IndieGogo campaign to raise funds for a new home for the Lakota Healthy Start Program on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation needs more than $24,000 in donations by January 26 to meet its goal.

The program aims to drastically reduce the death of babies on the reservation, which is devastated by an infant mortality rate 300 percent higher than the national average. The program works to achieve this change by providing emotional care, nutrition, education and Lakota values to young at-risk moms and their newborns and children.

But many challenges have stood it their way. In December 2011, the program lost its first office due to high levels of asbestos. Then the Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board placed it in a mold-infested trailer with holes. When that situation proved unacceptable, the program moved into the storage room behind a video store. Recently, the Indian Health Service deemed the room unfit due to the threat of the Hanta Virus.

Help has already come from the Dahlin Group, an architectural firm with offices throughout California and China, which has agreed to work with Henry Red Cloud, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe and founder of Lakota Solar Enterprises (LSE), to develop to the new building to house Lakota Healthy Start. LSE is a Native-owned renewable-energy company created in 2006 by Red Cloud with nonprofit partner Trees, Water & People. It is dedicated to reducing pollution and fostering a sustainable lifestyle using modern-day technology and traditional Lakota values.

Read more about the program in Indian Country Today Media Network: "Lakota Moms and Babies Need Help: Support Lower Infant Mortality Through Healthy Start".

To donate to the cause, visit IndieGogo.com/projects/268593.

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Lakota Healthy Start Building Campaign-Indie GoGo from Kitty Farmer on Vimeo.

Laughter filled the air as 1,500 disadvantaged children from across the Inland region eagerly hunted for their favorite holiday toys Thursday during the annual Christmas Cheer All Year shopping spree sponsored by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.

Excited children emerged from the Toys R Us store in Ontario clutching everything from Iron Man action figures to Barbie dolls, stuffed animals, footballs, Lego play sets and video games.

“It was totally awesome,” 11-year-old Ronnie T. said of the shopping spree where she picked out an Orbeez remote control Ladybug Scooper and several other items. “We got a lot of toys.”

Douglas, also 11, said he and his brother had spent the week planning and talking about which toys they wanted to buy at the shopping spree. For Douglas, who loves playing catch with his dad, a new Wilson NFL football topped the list. “This was a lot of fun,” he said.

As the title sponsor, Morongo provided $100,000 in cash and services to the non-profit Christmas Cheer All Year to conduct the shopping spree. The children, who were from across the Inland region, the San Gorgonio Pass and the Coachella Valley, were pre-selected by local charities and non-profit groups.

“The Morongo Band of Mission Indians is delighted to be partnering once again with Christmas Cheer All Year to brighten the holidays for hundreds of local children who otherwise would not be receiving any presents this year,” said Morongo Tribal Chairman Robert Martin. “It’s wonderful to see the smiles on these young faces, and we are especially pleased to be working again with the County of Riverside to bring joy to children who have been victims of abuse and neglect.”


For the second year in a row, dozens of children in protective care with the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) took part in the shopping spree program. Without Morongo’s help, these children would have gone without a present, county officials said.

“In this season of sharing, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians continues to demonstrate its commitment to the most vulnerable in our community—children in need,” said Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley.


The shopping spree is organized annually by Rick Lozano, a longtime Fox 11 journalist and founder of Christmas Cheer All Year.

“Every year, we can count on Morongo and our partners in the community to help bring happiness to the hearts of local children whose families are struggling through tough times,” Lozano said. “Morongo continues to help make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged children.”

Morongo involved more than 450 children from the San Gorgonio Pass and Coachella Valley in the shopping spree, and provided many of the kids with breakfast and transportation to the event.


Many of the children came from the James A. Venable Community Center in Cabazon.

“Our community is suffering with some of the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the region. Many of the families we serve are struggling just to provide necessities,” said Josie Coates, center manager of the Venable Community Center. “The annual shopping spree is just one of the many ways that Morongo supports our local community and local families.”

The Morongo Band of Mission Indians has a long tradition of giving. The tribe contributes more than $1 million annually to support communities and non-profit organizations across the Inland Empire and Southern California.
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By resolution 836(IX) of 14 December 1954, the General Assembly recommended that all countries institute a Universal Children's Day, to be observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children. It recommended that the Day was to be observed also as a day of activity devoted to promoting the ideals and objectives of the Charter and the welfare of the children of the world. The Assembly suggested to governments that the Day be observed on the date and in the way which each considers appropriate. The date 20 November, marks the day on which the Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989.

In 2000 world leaders outlined the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015. Though the Goals are for all humankind, they are primarily about children. UNICEF notes that six of the eight goals relate directly to children and meeting the last two will also make critical improvements in their lives.

In 2012, the Secretary-General launched a new initiative Education First. The Initiative aims to raise the political profile of education, strengthen the global movement to achieve quality education and generate additional and sufficient funding through sustained advocacy efforts. Achieving gains in education will have an impact on all the Millennium Development Goals, from lower child and maternal mortality, to better health, higher income and more environmentally-friendly societies.(Source)


Indigenous Children
As every child, indigenous children have the right to:

*Not be discriminated against

*Enjoy their culture

*Use their own language (read and write in their own language),

*Profess and practice their own religion

*Have access to education, vocational training, health and other services that are culturally sensitive

*Be protected from all forms of violence, exploitation, abuse and abandonment, including commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking and child labour that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education.