Lakota Foundation for Hope

If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? -1 John 3:17

Over 3 years ago, our youth group went on our first ever mission trip to Parmelee, South Dakota on the Rosebud Indian Reservation. Parmelee is a part of Todd county, the 2nd poorest county in the United States. Even though it's only 6 hours away, it honestly feels like a third world country. On our first trip there, I met a 6 year old girl named Autumn. She and I would play together everyday and I absolutely loved getting to know her. One day, though, she came to the boys and girls club and something didn't seem quite right. Her speech was slurred and her eyes appeared glazed over. Before the trip, we were told that most children become alcoholics by the time they reach 4th grade. I couldn't fathom this at the time but in that moment it became real to me. I was frustrated with God and didn't understand why he would let this happen. And in that moment, too, I realized that I wanted to do something more in this community. I had fallen in love with all of the people there and while putting on a Vacation Bible School in the summer on our mission trip was fun, I wanted to do something that would help create long term change because I want to see better lives for the children I have built strong relationships with and care so much about.

While I had realized I wanted to do something more, I never really knew how to do this or what exactly to do. My sophomore year of college I randomly signed up for a social entrepreneurship class. Social entrepreneurship is a business whose objective is to provide some type of social good rather than to make a profit. I began working on a project in Parmelee that started out as such a simple idea just one year ago, and now it is becoming a reality. Hillary Berger, Drew Bartek, and I have been working on starting the Lakota Foundation for Hope. It is a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of children on the reservation in all areas of wellness. This Christmas, we are hosting a donation drive to benefit this area at church. We are collecting warm coats & winter clothes, blankets & sleeping bags, and infant car seats. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death on the reservation and the numbers are alarmingly high for the young age range so we want to help provide the safety measures to help reduce this. We will be collecting donations the next few weeks at church for these donation drives and would love to encourage you to donate in any way if you feel you are led to. If you have any questions, feel free to contact myself, Kaitlyn Steinacher, via email at kaitlynsteinacher@creighton.edu or by phone at (402) 540-2988.

-Kaitlyn Steinacher