We think you have a right to know exactly how your money was spent!

2008

Below, you will find a list of all of the purchases made by Changing Winds with your donations. 
This does not include the overwhelming amount of clothing sent directly by all of you.
Judging by the emails we received, we estimate that you all sent about 3/4 of what was needed,
allowing us to fill the other needs listed below.

The Drive For Warmth 2008

T'was today, the day of Christmas
The phone finally stopped ringing!!
The carolers came (they really did!) there was plenty of singing!
While donors around the WORLD sent gifts of great love
Of blankets and heaters, coats, boots and some gloves.

The Post Office called and said, There are boxes galore!
Tell us please, now, will you be sending more?!
One never knows with the Changing Winds crowd,
The miracles keep coming, cries of surprise are out loud!

This year was a blizzard with snow very deep!
2000 electric poles went down in drifts 20 ft steep!

But what to our wondering eyes did appear
But 200 elves, who heard with their ears
Of the coldness, the harshness, the impossible time
And they all joined in, caused me to write this here rhythm. :-)

The things that they sent, they just blew me away!
Handmade scarves, gloves and sweaters, what more can I say?
Sewing machines, and books, even cots and heating fuel,
Electric heaters, coats, blankets, boots, a pair of high waders too!

And just when I thought it was over, and we might fall a bit short
A buddy named Orville arrived with a happy retort
Yes, we try to relieve the cold and despair
With coats, gloves, and soaps, even shampoo for the hair.
But a cry had been made to please send some toys
And I thought we'd say no to those dear girls and boys.

The money is for NEEDS!  I thought all too sternly,
But my buddy said, Take this and make those kids happy.
So on top of it all, with all said and done,
One thousand small toys were shipped for their FUN!

There are so many who make this a time of great joy
To change the world for those little Lakota girls and boys
There's Tiokasin who alerts us, WBAI listeners the elves
The TV and internet joins with their hearts where love dwells.

I sit in the midst of the most astonishing beauty
Of love, and of hope and of smiles so aplenty.
We shout and we cry from the shock and surprise
Of all of the generous people that always arise
To be sure the kids have all that other kids do,
And so it is easy for us to say to this you :

No matter your race, religion,  or creed
You are the Sweet Souls who  fill childrens needs!!
You are richer in things than mere banks ever hold
To care about babies who can't fight the cold.
I am so honored to sit here dispatching for you,
The requests from  South Dakota and a few other states too.

Happy Holidays to you, however you spend them
Sleep well and be warm as we near this years end.
May you be well nourished and your heart filled with peace.
Many thanks north and south, from the west to the east!!!!
Love,
Christine Rose
Changing Winds, Inc.

With your donations, we purchased and sent:

193 coats, 144 pairs of snowboots and shoes, 348 pairs of sweats, 138 electric heaters, 5 electric blankets (elders requests), $1525 spent on emergency supplies and propane, heating at least 12 families selected by application for worst case scenarios during the worst week of the blizzard, 41 pairs of gloves, 23 hats, 61 baby outfits (emergency shelters and ICWA), 192 diapers (emergency shelters), 5 sewing machines, 15 hairbrushes, baby furniture and 6 beds (not including the sturdy cots sent by our favorite owl man) 1000 toys by our Buddy (which magically became 2000 toys due to a clerical error, and which the company chose not to correct!) art supplies including paint, drawing and construction paper, clay, crayons, colored pencils, brushes, coloring books, etc for the Clubs, 102 books for the libraries (and you all sent that much again) 20 baby blankets and 100 2 ply fleece blankets made especially for us.

To top it off, 1400 POUNDS of clothing that was donated by clothing stores was shipped from Connecticut out to South Dakota!!

To top it off further, Ken Herbig, Hank Feinberg and friends at PC Renew donated 23 computers and software to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Rosebud!!!  And computer headsets for soundless computers to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lower Brule!

What in the world are we going to do with all of this newly found free time?

Start tribal newspapers by and for the children! Build literacy and skills for the future! Your books are being read! The children will soon be writing about them!

Anybody up for some baseball? Call us if you want to send a ball or bat or glove to the kids so they can start to travel from rez to rez, for some Little League fun.and Play Ball! Want to sponsor a team? Let us know!

Thank you ALL!!!
Thank you Tiokasin Ghost Horse!!
Thank you
Southport Congregational Church for your wonderful support!!
Thank you Channel 12 and Lauren Collier!!
Thanks to our Buddy and Owl Man!!
(you know who you are!!!)

And thank you each and every single donor!!
Together you raised almost $26,000.00 for the children and families of South Dakota! Only 9% went to administrative fees and operating expenses, and even that was used almost exclusively for promotional and delivery costs.

No individual receives any compensation from
Changing Winds.

See You Back Here for Winter 2009!

We think you have a right to know exactly how your money was spent!

2007
Our warm clothing drive ran all the way through January and we were able to provide everything we had been asked for. Below is what we purchased from stores and distributors. Besides what we listed below:

You All sent an additional 60 boxes of coats to Pine Ridge and 40 to Cheyenne River, with assorted other items being received in Rosebud!

BRAND NEW Clothing, shoes and boots were also sent, as were toys, hats, scarves, gloves and mittens. From the bottom of our s, we are so grateful for your participation, without which hundreds of children would have spent a much colder winter.

Pine Ridge:

Lowo: 18 27oz cans of baby formula and 1000 diapers, three sewing machines, ten space heaters
Ivis: 80 coats, 27 pairs of shoes.

Rosebud:

40 coats, 4 sewing machines, 77 pairs of shoes.

Cheyenne River:

182 sweats, including pants and tops, 39 pairs of shoes.

Yankton:

114 sweats, pants tops and sweaters. Will be sending 12 boxes of new clothing donated by an outside source. We will pay for shipping.

Santee (Nebraska):

57 coats, 82 pairs of snow boots.

Sisseton:

One donor sponsored all of the needs of the children (5) in the shelter.

Crow Creek:

50 coats

 

We think you have a right to know exactly how your money was spent!

2006
In 2006, we focused primarily on coats. In communities on Pine Ridge, Cheyenne River, Rosebud and Sisseton, we provided 1600 brand new coats for children and homeless teens!

Changing Winds Inc
PO Box 3856
Rapid City, SD 57709
203-543-9720
Note: This a new phone number.
CWAdvocacyCenter@aol.com

© 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 - Changing Winds Seminars, Inc.