Blanket Drive a resounding success, funds needed for shipping

Redbird's 29th annual blanket drive and mini powwow was a resounding success, with contributors loading a trailer full of new blankets. Now comes the task of getting them shipped to South Dakota.

Until recently, monetary donations and blanket donations always balanced out. In recent years, shipping costs have increased - between 2022 and 2023, the cost of shipping a box of blankets with USPS jumped from $78.00 to $98.00 - and cash donations have decreased.

This year's cash deficit is estimated at $900.00, and Redbird is putting the word out, asking for donations in any amount to help make this mission a success.

The blankets are bound for the White Plume family of Manderson, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. For two decades, Alex White Plume has received these blankets and redistributed them to rural families on the reservation, not as charity, but as gifts. When someone in the community receives these items from Alex, former President of the Lakota Nation and lifelong activist, they are receiving them from an unci, a kola...an uncle, a friend, a brother.

The distance from Southern California to South Dakota is roughly 1,500 miles, making it difficult to find people who can drive the blankets to their remote destination. UPS no longer ships to Manderson during the holiday season. The US Postal Service is the only carrier who can offer timely delivery, but it's not cheap.

Redbird straddles dual counties. The Native American and environmental non profit has a land base in the Angeles National Forest, at the former La Canada Unified School District's Chilao Mountain School. Redbird was founded in Ventura County (Simi Valley) in 1990, where the very first blanket drive was held in 1995. The event is currently held at the Simi Valley Library.

Redbird is seeking donations to insure that these blankets can all reach their destination in South Dakota.

Please help us reach our shipping goal and make this effort a success. Your donation at this time will help us get these blankets to rural families on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. There is no amount too great or too small to be utilized and appreciated.

All donations received between now and December 31 will be used for shipping blankets. Redbird is a 501(c)(3) non profit and your donation is fully tax deductible. Please donate at this link (it doesn't matter what program you choose, the money is going to shipping the blankets):

https://www.redbirdsvisions.or...

(Submitted by Redbird founder Corina Roberts. For more information please leave a ook around on our website, or email Corina at redbirds_vision@hotmail.com)