I offered to host a diary for the Okiciyap School Supplies drive and it got me thinking about my time in school. I was lucky to grow up in a community with well-funded schools. It was a time in suburban California before chronic budget shortfalls and the crippling of the state budget process brought about by the passage of Prop 13 in 1978. I never sat in an overcrowded classroom.
We went on field trips throughout the school year to many types of places, but my favorites were trips to dig for fossils, explore tide pools or (my most favorite) explore the Huntington Library in San Marino. And field trips were paid for from the school budget so there were no PTA fundraisers needed for students to enjoy school activities, including the performing arts and music programs.
Today fewer kids in America have what they need to succeed in school. And some of the children on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota served by Okiciyap have gone without school supplies and other necessities.
As many dKos readers know, Okiciyap is a food pantry on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation supported by this community. This year we are continuing with a school supplies drive, which provided school supplies for 50 middle and high school students and 90 K-6 students in Isabel and the surrounding communities.
Kossacks have already sent Okiciyap a lot of supplies, but we still need more, particularly 3 and 5 subject notebooks, scissors, pens and pencils, and crayons (see the list below).
The pantry receives regular shipments of food from Feeding South Dakota, and some food and but mostly other items such as shampoo, soap, and toothpaste, from National Relief Charities. On the third Friday and Saturday of each month they have "pantry day," when people can come and pick up the food they need. People in need of emergency food supplies can also call the pantry and the volunteers will open it for them. It has received so many donations that the pantry had to build a storage room!
Give yourselves a round of applause! This all got started because of Georgia Little Shield's determination and the Daily Kos community's generosity.
Below is a list of supplies needed and an update on what has been pledged. In addition to supplies, this community has already donated more than $250 to help them fill in any donations gaps. You can add to this total here:
Donate
More below the elaborate Orange squiggle:
Last weekend the pantry sold Indian tacos after the town parade, with these two young women in homemade costumes to attract sales. Love their enthusiasm!
Supplies needed:
5 and 3 subject notebooks
Backpacks or Messenger bag
Markers
Crayons
Scissors
Pens & Pencils
Folders
Binders/Trapper Keepers
Calculators/Scientific & Regular
Glue Sticks and Regular Glue
Pencil Boxes or bags
Erasers
Pencil sharpeners
colored pencils
Rulers
Compass & Protractors
Boys and girls socks & undies (all sizes)
Suggested in a comment:
There's always a need for things like pocket packs of tissues and hand sanitizers for kids. Maybe small bottles of hand sanitizer for the kids and a big refill bottle or two would be useful. Bulk packs of tissues are lightweight and can be added to pad other items in a box.
Don't forget you can pack a lot of things into the pre-paid Priority Mail boxes from the USPS for a very reasonable cost.
(notice the books!)
Pledged so far:
For some Kossacks, this has been an opportunity to clean out drawers of collected school & office supplies, resulting in a giant box of stuff containing:
notebooks and notepads
pens, pencils, and markers
colored pencils and those little water paint sets
folders and notebooks
rulers, erasers and scissors
a protractor
And from another, lots of colored pencils, markers, crayons and paint, along with some notebooks.
Some have picked up supplies from a variety of sources (see section below for ideas) and that's resulted in:
12 packs of 24 Crayons
48 scientific calculators
1000 assorted colorful advertising and school #2 pencils with erasers
48 5-subject wired notebooks - 150 pages, college rule, assorted colors
96 solar&battery-powered regular calculators in assorted colors
2 of: Dixon Ticonderoga My First Tri-Write Triangular #2 Pencils, Primary Size, Wood-Cased, Black Writing, 36-Count 72 primary school pencils
2 of: Dixon Ticonderoga Woodcase Pencils, HB #2, Yellow Barrel, 96 per Pack 192 standard pencils kids of all ages always need pencils, and this are just plain yellow pencils so if you see bright colorful pencils on sale, grab some!
2 of: Basic 3-Ring Pencil Pouch with Mesh Window, 24 Assorted colors (Case of 24) 48 pencil pouches there's 4 different colors packed in each case.
6 of: TOPS 3-Subject Spiral Notebooks, College Rule, 10.5 x 8 Inches, 120 Sheets/Book, Covers May Vary, 6-Pack 36 3-subject notebooks
a pledge for some socks & undies (tho more, for all ages & sizes of boys & girls, are always appreciated!)
18 pink erasers
24 bright colored 12" rulers
25 pocket folders with brads
6 packs of 24 ct. Crayons
Pledged in the last diary:
12 1" blue vinyl ring binders
12 1" red vinyl ring binders
10 boxes of 16 crayons
60 school glue sticks, Elmer's disappearing purple
36 compasses
36 protractors
24 kids scissors, 5" blunt, assorted colors
4 Sterilite pencil boxes
4 kids scissors
(3) 6pk pink erasers
(4) 10 pk Papermate black pens
(3) 10 pk generic black pens
(3) 10 pk generic blue pens
(3) 8 pk generic pencils
3 flat plastic pencil pouches with sliders
(8) 12 pk Papermate black pens
(9) 12 pk Papermate blue pens
(3) 24 pk Scotch glue sticks
4 colored plastic rulers
8 pk girls socks size M (shoe size 10-13)
8 pk boys socks size M (shoe size 10-13)
2 small messenger bags
2 used but 100% functional Trans backpacks
1 used but 100% functional pink Five Star pencil case
(this last group was donated by a new Kossack, yay!)
I never cease to be amazed by the generosity of this community - betson08
Pledges since the last diary on August 7th:
192 erasers and 192 little pencil sharpeners (because that's how many were in the lot), assorted colors, on their way
(this is an ebay fan, highly recommended source!).
From KosMail:
That Bags in Bulk website (see below) really has some good deals. Given my delight at how good the prices were and my general feelin' good mood, I ordered some backpacks to be sent this week.
So add this to the list as purchased:
48 19 inch backpacks - multiple colors - black/purple/pink/green
48 19 inch bungee cord backpacks - multiple colors - black/blue/red
These backpacks strike me as the right size for kids in 5th grade thru high school. We would still need some more bags for older students, and maybe 2-3 dozen in a smaller size for K-4th grade. So the remaining amount of 'packs would be great for people to send just one or two that they found at a local sale or from their closet. For those folks who get lots of swag at professional conferences, I'm sure there's a few messenger bags with company logos gathering dust in closets that would be useful for the older students.
48 pencil pouches - these are a different style from the ones I ordered a couple of days ago. We could still use more cases and boxes for students of all grades. Would still need about 50-60 cases/boxes/pouches to cover every student.
New donations from betson08's morning diary:
• 5 Mead® Spiral® 5 Subject Notebook - College Ruled, 8.5 x 11, Asst. Colors
• 5 Paper Mate Pink Pearl Premium Erasers, 3 Large Erasers
• 5 Five Star Wirebound 3-Subject 4-Pocket Notebooks
• iScholar Gross Pack #2 Yellow Pencils, 144 Count
• 5 Westcott Jeweltone Plastic Ruler, 12 Inch
• 30 ct, Elmer's Washable All-Purpose School Glue Sticks, 0.24 oz Ea
• 2 of BIC Brite Liner, Assorted Colors (5-Pack) (Thanks, funluvn1 !)
• Case of 52 boxes - Crayola Crayons (24 Crayons per Box) (that's 1,248 crayons!)
• iScholar Gross Pack #2 Yellow Pencils, 144 Count
• Westcott School Left and Right Handed Kids Scissors, 5" Blunt, Pack of 12
• 12 packs of socks
• 6, 10 and 9 packs of undies in several sizes (Thank you, mollyd !)
• five red and white check, 19" backpacks (thanks, DoReMI !)
• books of stamps (Thanks, peregrine kate and betson08!)
In the meantime, some folks have suggested that the folks at Okiciyap might be better able to fill gaps with money instead of relying solely on donations of supplies, so there have been some monetary contributions of over $250 so far. If you feel that you could best help out this way, just click here:
Donate
Some online sources for school supplies:
Amazon
Overstock.com
eBags
Discount School Supply
Costco
BagsinBulk (backpacks)
Made-in-America by Union Workers, a source for backpacks
Don't forget about eBay! Asam has donated a large quantity of calculators and other items because they are cheap and easy to get on eBay. Thanks for both the donation and the suggestion!
If you are using a shipping service that requires a street address, use this one:
Okiciyap, c/o Cindy Taylor
506 N. Madison Ave
Isabel, S.D. 57633
(This is Cindy's house. I don't know why, but sometimes this address comes up as "not found" for some shippers. She does receive packages here, so keep trying. The packages will definitely get lost if they are delivered to the pantry because there are no full time staff there).
If you have any questions, you can call or email the pantry director, Emily Penick Taylor:
505-328-4357
emilytaylor.penick@yahoo.com
Want to just get out your credit card and donate something without shopping?
Click here:
Donate
Isabel's Annual Wacipi (Pow wow)
Okiciyap is organizing Isabel's pow wow this year in honor of Georgia Little Shield. Later this week, Navajo and Betson08 are going and will report back. ( I am hoping to see LOTS of photos! - desertguy) They will present the Daily Kos Quilt Guild's quilt along with a plaque honoring Georgia Little Shield while there.
P.S. We need people to host diaries for this drive. If you have time, we'd really appreciate a diary as a contribution. A diary is a great way to help in lieu of buying something. Thank you.
(goofing around in front of the book rack after raising money for the pantry with an Indian taco sale)
Making the Indian tacos for the fundraiser (Okay, now I want some fry bread! - desertguy)
Okiciyap address for supply and $$ donations via snail mail:
Okiciyap
PO Box 172
Isabel SD 57633
Here are three of my photos from the desert Southwest. Enjoy!
Ancient Hohokam petroglyph, Arizona
Hoodoos and full moon, Hopi Land
Horseshoe Bend, Colorado River, from Navajo Nation overlook