November 21, 2011
Hi Chris,
We had our Turkey Bingo last Friday evening from 5:00-7:00. Although we were supposed to be getting a big snow storm, nothing came until way after 9:00. We ended up getting only 1″ of snow all together. We had a wonderful night. The gym filled up slowly, I thought because of the weather, but by 5:30, it was full and the fun began.
We had another great turn out and fed hot dogs, pizza, nachos and drinks. The crew I have working for me this year is fantastic. They really had a lot of fun and pitched right in to make it a wonderful event. The crowd was overwhelmed once again at the generosity that all of our donors sent. It was very hard to pick a prize. Some missed out on one whole game as they were trying to pick out just what they needed the most.
The gifts that were donated were such a huge hit this time. The toiletries, camping gear, kitchen and bedding, along with the tool boxes filled with tools were very much liked and appreciated. We heard many comments about how so many gifts were just what they needed. I know this took a lot of stress off the community to come play for gifts they really needed and could use.
We made $1,159 which will help replace folding chairs for our school along with replenish the incentives for our students. Again, my thanks go out to all who helped make our community come together in such a special way and make their lives so much more comfortable.
We are so blessed to have Friends like you. May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday and may your Christmas Holiday be filled with as much warmth and happiness as you brought us. May God Bless each and everyone and keep you safe and warm throughout the New Year. Pilamaya (Thank You)
Sincerely,
Theresa Lessert, Principal Our Lady of Lourdes
Elementary School
November 2, 2011
Hi Chris,
What a variety of bingo prizes! I honestly believe that the variety that you send out is what makes this event so wonderful. So many comments come back to us that reflect that it is not just an “old ladies'” bingo anymore. “OLL has something for everyone.” That is a great feeling to know that we get all ages to come share the evening and have fun.
To all who donated this year, words cannot express the appreciation we, here at Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary, feel for you. You help make our Bingo such a joy to put on and share with the community.
Many of our teachers are done in by the end of the day and the end of each week. They put their hearts and souls into doing the best to help educate our children. Through your generosity, they choose to stay late one more night to help put this on because they know it will be a positive, friendly, enjoyable event that gives us a chance to mingle with our parents and community members as we fulfill our duties of the night.
The gifts that we will give out on November 18th are items that are greatly needed in our families from the dinners to the household items. What a great honor it is to have you all on our list of Friends. You do a wonderful job. We continue to hold you close to our hearts as a caring neighbor who is always there to help out when needed.
May Tunkasila, (the Great Spirit) take care of you and keep you warm this winter. May he bless you with good health and happiness and may he keep you safe each day. Our Lady of Lourdes is truly blessed to have friends as wonderful as you all are to us. Pilamaya! (Thank You)
Most Graciously,
Theresa Lessert, Principal
September 6, 2011
Hello All,
I want to send out an early THANK YOU for all the donations for our Fall Carnival set for Sept. 30th. It looks like, once again through your generosity, we plan to have a wonderful event. We opted to have an earlier carnival this year hoping to catch some mild weather for the fun filled event. We have some outdoor games that we plan to use most of these items as prizes and incentives for the students. We also will have our Fall Bingo at this time so many of the bigger prizes will be used for the “BINGOS.”
I appreciate all the help you send out our way. My staff works so hard each day trying to keep up with the high expectations that have been set to educate our children and with the help and generosity that you display it makes for a comfortable, easy-going event that everyone enjoys.
We will hold each of you in our prayers as the year goes on. Thank you once again. I will write to let you know of how our special event has unfolded. May God Bless you all.
Sincerely,
Theresa Lessert, Principal
Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary
August 5, 2011
Dear FoPRR Donors,
I am so pleased with your generosity that has mailed our way. It looks like, once again, we will have a Fabulous Bingo! I feel that I am going to have one problem this year. That is, most of my staff were so impressed about the prizes that you all have sent that they want to play instead of work the Bingo with me. ha ha That in itself was impressive. They will all be glad to work with me to make it a great event once again.
It is a great time for the staff to see the community come together and have such a nice evening filled with fun and laughter. That helps to relax everyone and allow for relationships to grow stronger.
My heart cannot express the appreciation that I feel for your help. This is truly TEAMWORK! We hold each of you in our prayers for good health and happiness. We thank you so much for all your hard work and care for our community, children and school.
May God Bless each and everyone of you. Pilamaye (Thank You)
Sincerely,
Theresa Lessert
Principal
Our Lady of Lourdes School
July 1, 2011
Hi Chris,
That is such great news about the abacuses. This will make learning so much more meaningful to our younger students. It is so wonderful to have caring people willing to help make our students’ education easier and more fun. I appreciate all the hard work and generosity from each and everyone who helps.
Our students appreciate the gifts and care that comes our way. Please know that we do keep everyone who helps this organization in our prayers for good health and happiness throughout the year.
Pilamaye, (thank you) from the bottom of our hearts.
Sincerely,
Theresa Lessert
Principal
Our Lady of Lourdes School
June 9, 2011
Hi Chris,
This has been a long time coming, but thank you so much for all that you have done for us this year. Not only have you and your donors given many smiles to our children this year, but also we were able to purchase and install a new school sign that is very visible from the highway.
We finally were able to have it put up on May 5th with some help from the community. Some of our students went down with their class to watch the process of tearing out the old and putting in the new. We had our Athletic Banquet that evening in which many, many of our parents were able to see and enjoy the new sign also for the first time. We then were able to have an All-School Blessing on May 6th.
Our students have a better sense of pride having the new sign and having it both in English and Lakota. They feel that it is a wonderful event that they were especially happy to participate in. Our other sign was very small and low to the ground, which made for easy tagging. This new one is up higher and much bigger so we should not have any trouble with vandalism.
We cannot thank you enough for all the joy that you all have brought us this year. It has been a long process of Turkey Bingo, carnivals…to be able to finalize this project. With the help of our Friends of Pine Ridge, we were able to do that while enjoying the company of our communities nearby. You have not only given us a new sign for our school, but many opportunities to enjoy each other’s company in many get togethers. We will always hold each one in our hearts who took part in the fundraising this year. Our students enjoyed many incentives and rewards for their hard work clear to the end.
Wopila and thank you so much for all your hard work.
Theresa Lessert
Principal
Our Lady of Lourdes School
May 9, 2011
To all of our Friends of Pine Ridge,
I want to extend my sincere thanks for all your help and generosity throughout this school year. The books and incentives that have been coming through the mail these past few weeks have been a great help in keeping our students working hard.
It is so nice to see such a variety of prizes. This helps each individual find something to enjoy as they come to the office for “Respectful Student”, 100% on their Accelerated Reading or Math tests and just earning something special for all their hard work.
You have truly made my job easier as a Principal to help keep these rewards going strong. It is very hard to keep our young students in school today and on task. Every little thing helps to keep them smiling and feeling successful.
I want to pray that each of you may have a blessed summer vacation filled with good friends and family. May good health be yours. May you always feel the kindness of a stranger. We hold you all in our prayers. Please know that you have touched our hearts so deeply through your generosity. May Tunkasila (The Great Spirit), keep you well. Pilamaye, Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Theresa Lessert, Principal
Our Lady of Lourdes School
April 20, 2011
Dear Friends of Pine Ridge:
The Kindergarten class would like to thank you for the many great items you sent. We have enjoyed opening the many boxes. There are so many great toys to make the childrens “choice time” the highlight of their day. The beautiful high chair, laundromat, Barbie dolls & clothes, the variety of great puzzles, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, peg boards, little cars, truck, train, horse trailer just to name a few.
The horse stamp collection that you provided for each of our students will be given out at our Kindergarten Celebration, May 19th. It will spark some creative ideas and put a big smile on their faces I’m sure. The gift goes beautifully with our rodeo theme. I wish you could be here to see their faces on that special day.
Thank you so much for that generosity (a Lakota value).
Pilamiya! (Thank you!)
Robin Sager
OLL Kindergarten Teacher
February 15, 2011
Dear Chris:
I would like to thank you so much for all the friends that contributed to making our Valentine’s day such a great success. The students really enjoyed the parties that were given. The teachers had fun using all the pencils, toys, erasers and stickers as incentives and gifts for each grade. The candies were a huge success also.
It is such a blessing to have a group such as yours who care so much for our children. It really makes our school feel special. Thank you so much for warming the hearts of our children the way you do. God Bless you all.
Wopila, (thank you)
Theresa Lessert, Principal
Our Lady of Lourdes School
February 8, 2011
Hi Chris,
Hope all is going well for you. We have received many boxes of goodies in the past couple of weeks. I have been handing most of the donations out to the teachers as they wanted to use them as incentives for “Good Jobs” and “I appreciate You” just to make the children smile. We have plenty to hand out Monday still and the kids are loving it.
Thank you so much for all your help and generosity. Your program really shows the younger generation that it takes very little from someone’s heart to make a huge difference in another’s heart. We here at Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary send our warmest wishes of good health and happiness to all of you that donate and help our children out so much.
In today’s world there is so much gloom and despair, but through your generosity and kindness, you have helped put the sunshine and hope back into their lives. Your kindness is a great teaching tool for our children to see that it doesn’t take a lot to help out each other. But put a bunch together and huge things can happen. Wopila for all that you do.
Sincerely,
Theresa Lessert
Principal
Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School
If you've received a phone call soliciting donations for "Pine Ridge Reservation" please consider it a scam and do not provide any credit card information.