ONE Spirit is a sponsorship program working primarily on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. You can learn much more about them at their web site, www.nativeprogress.org .
One of the things they do is coordinate with the SHARE food distribution program to enable sponsors of children and elders to supply food to the families at a reduced cost. You can read more about the SHARE Colorado program run by Catholic Charities in Denver (no direct affiliation with ONE Spirit) at www.sharecolorado.com.
But the price of gas is beginning to be felt in this program, as it is in every one of our lives. Food prices rise and the cost to transport food rises. For someone living on the rez, who may not have a job (because there aren’t very many jobs) and may not have food or a vehicle to go get food, this program can be a lifesaver – literally.
I received an e-mail today regarding the cost of the program and felt the need to share it with you. Even if you do not sponsor a child, elder or family, you can help feed them by contributing to this worthwhile program at ONE Spirit. I have used this program and can attest to its value to my Lakota friends.
Please read the e-mail and if you are moved to help some of the poorest citizens of this country, THANK YOU!
ONE Spirit Friends,
For the past 3 years, ONE Spirit has been absorbing the delivery cost for Project SHARE from general administration funds. Share Colorado does not pick up any of the costs associated with getting One Spirit’s monthly order to our distribution site in Porcupine on the Pine Ridge Reservation. We have set up a network of individuals starting with a driver who rents a Box truck each month to haul the food to Porcupine from the Share Warehouse in Rapid City. The food arrives in bulk and on pallets. At the Porcupine site, the Lakota people unload the truck, inventory the food and sort it into individual orders. The food is then given to drivers who deliver to their prospective communities.
One Spirit pays each driver a per mile expense based slightly higher than the IRS deduction allowed for the use of an individual’s car for business use. This is strictly reimbursement for the use of their vehicles for the delivery. In addition we give each helper and driver an order of food each month as compensation for their time. It is usually an all day process for all involved.
The total cost to One Spirit per month is approximately 1800.00. Please note that the 1.50 administration fee paid on each order placed on the Share Colorado web site goes to Share for their administration costs, not One Spirit’s. Also on the Project SHARE order form, if you choose to give the 1.00 to help a needy family that also goes to Share and not to One Spirit.
Up until now One Spirit has been able to come up with these funds every month but with the current economic climate we have seen donations drastically reduce over the last four months and are having an increasingly hard time meeting the challenge of funding these deliveries.
We are asking that everyone ordering food through Share consider making a $10.00 donation to One Spirit to help defray the delivery cost. If anyone can’t do that then perhaps 5.00 or any amount would help.
We are in the process of trying to secure a grant for the food program. We believe strongly that this program absolutely needs to continue and ask the assistance of anyone in a position to help us.
If any of you have ideas you would like to share (excuse the pun) on this subject, we would welcome your input.
Make a donation to the Share project through paypal (onespirit@one1.org) or by check to ONE Spirit, P.O. Box 2595, Chesterfield, VA 23832
Mike Glinsky
SHARE Supervisor
Our postal address is
P.O. Box 2595
Chesterfield, Virginia 23832
United States
