********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for the Christmas Gifts Drive I set up for all of the children served by the Yurok Tribe Head Start. Thanks so much to all who donated a toy!
December 27, 2022
Dear Chris and Friends of Pine Ridge,
We’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to each one of you for the generous donation that were donated for our students. The staff, parents, and students of the Yurok Tribe Head Start had a wonderful Lunch with Santa event on the last day of school before our winter break. It brought much joy to have such wonderful, quality toys to present to Head Start families in need. The items that were donated were dispersed out to three different sites and all were gratefully appreciated.
In our language, wok-hlew has a modern cultural usage/meaning of “thank you,” but it literally translates as “I am grateful.” So, from all of the staff and families, we are truly grateful, wok-hlew.
Sincerely,
Jolleanne Jones
Family Service Coordinator/ Site Supervisor
Yurok Tribe Head Start
********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for the Heaters Drive, the Blankets/Quilts/Comforters Drive and the monetary donations being sent to First Families Now right now to help them through the cold temps, the blizzard and the aftermath! These needs are ongoing so please send what you can! The propane company will only deliver propane to families with a $250 minimum purchase, which the families do not have.
December 27, 2002
Dear Chris and Friends of Pine Ridge,
Thank you soooo much for the monetary contributions! I have contacted the Oglala Sioux Tribal representatives from each of our 9 districts. They are all giving me 5 names each of families in dire need of propane. We will be calling in propane for those families! Thank you all for making this happen!!! I will continue to add more families on the list as we receive more funding.
Thank you all for answering prayers and bringing relief to our families. We are very thankful!
Best,
********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for our Halloween Donation Drive for Jack Norton Elementary and Weitchpec Yurok Magnet Schools.
November 7, 2022
Dear Chris and FoPRR,
I have been intending to write this letter for over two weeks and have never been able to get to it. Our Halloween “Trunk or Treat” celebration was off the charts this year with the help of your generous donors. I had WES students bussed to JNES so that we could all celebrate together. The candy, trick-or-treat bags and holiday decorations were awesome. They all helped to make for a very special day for students and families that attended on Halloween. Your donors continue to amaze me.
Many of the donors truly think about the needs of my students and have provided snacks, medical supplies, school supplies and reward items. We are grateful for all that has been given. My students love the bouncy balls.
We are working with the Yurok Tribe this year on attendance and are giving $20 gift certificates to students each month for perfect attendance. This along with all the gifts given by your donors make our monthly assemblies a happy time for our students. The packages sent to the Principal of WES and JNES show up to my house almost every day. My three year-old grandson greets me every day when I arrive home to tell me I have more packages.
All I can say is “Thank You!” We are overwhelmed with your love and generosity. I wish I could send pictures of my kids to your donors. You have definitely made my schools places that my students want to attend. Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Jason L. Henderson, Principal
Jack Norton Elementary School
Weitchpec Yurok Magnet Elementary School
********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for our 2022 Food Drive for the Yurok Head Start families.
October 25, 2022
Dear Chris and our Friends of Pine Ridge,
On behalf of me, my staff, our families, and our community we want to give a big THANK YOU to all who helped donate food items and shoes to us here at the Yurok Tribe Head Start in Klamath, CA.
We greatly appreciate all you have done for our community. You have been so generous with your donations. We are very thankful for the food items that you sent to us. We were able to help some of our community members with food items. We also received a tremendous number of pairs of shoes from you. Each pair has or will have a new home soon.
Again, we greatly appreciate your donation, our community is very thankful for your kindness.
Wokhlew (Thank you)!
Jolleanne Jones Family Service Coordinator/ Site Supervisor
Yurok Tribe Early Childhood Education Center
********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for our 2022 Lakota Elders Christmas Gift drive for 501(c)(3) First Families Now.
October 25, 2022
Dear Chris/Friends of Pine Ridge,
I would like to send a big heartfelt handshake and hug to each and every one of you! Thank you so much for always pulling through with your contributions to our families in need here on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The Elders Christmas gifts are absolutely wonderful! We can’t wait to distribute to our wonderful Knowledge Keepers.
Our elders are held in the highest regard and we are so excited to be able to set up an honoring dinner and present them with their gifts!
Blessing to each and every one of you! You all continue to change lives and your heart does not go unnoticed. Thank you!
Blessings,
********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for Halloween goodies we sent to Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School on Pine Ridge Reservation.
September 29, 2022
Dear Donors,
Thank you for all the fun items you have sent to OLL to support our students. I will be putting the Halloween bags together in a few weeks for each of our students. The extra decorations you have sent are wonderful. We appreciate your generosity and support to helping keep smiles on our students faces and excitement in their hearts.
May God Bless you all. We can always do so much more with the support from friends like you.
Sincerely,
Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School
This thank you letter is for Halloween goodies we donated to American Horse School on Pine Ridge Reservation.September 20, 2022Friends of Pine Ridge,
Thank you for all the fabulous donations of Halloween items for our children here at American Horse School. We are deeply appreciative and the children are so excited. Thank you all for making our children happy! We are now ready for this fun exciting spooktacular event in our school.
We can’t thank you enough. Many blessings to you all!
American Horse School
********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for our school supplies drive for Jack Norton Elementary School and Weitchpec Yurok Magnet School on the Yurok Reservation.
September 6, 2022
Dear Chris,
Please tell your many donors thank you for their generous donations to my two schools, Jack Norton Elementary School and Weitchpec Yurok Magnet School. Tanisha and I were able to connect the backpacks, pencils, paper, folders, etc. with students prior to the first day of school which made parents and students very happy. Today was our first day of school and my students smiled with pride walking into their classrooms having those beautiful backpacks on their shoulders filled with school supplies ready to begin a new school year.
I apologize for the tardiness of this letter. It was a crazy August with the smoke from the fires and the school opening being delayed. My house was in the evacuation zone from the most recent Campbell Fire in Willow Creek. I stayed behind the evacuation blockade to protect my house. We had many wonderful firefighters from all over the state come in and set up protective perimeters around structures. No structures were lost to fire.
My tardiness of this letter should no way be a reflection of ungratefulness to the most generous of donors you have. We are all very grateful for your very kind donations. To think I almost told my secretary to not respond to your initial inquiry–what a mistake that would have been.
We are behind in education and I am pushing my staff and students to work hard this year and make up for the education deficit we suffered the past few years from COVID-19. Once again, thank you so much for helping us educate our students.
Sincerely,
Jason L. Henderson, Principal
Jack Norton Elementary School
Weitchpec Yurok Magnet School
********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for our recent Navajo baby shower.
September 6, 2022
Good Morning Chris,
Thank you so much for helping families who have little ones – they were able to get pampers, clothing, milk, toys, crib, walker, tubs, stroller, high chair and lots more! So many families took what they needed for their little babies and grandkids – it was fun to go through the items with them and finding what they need. They are so thankful for the items they received through the school THANK YOU so much for your donations. You absolutely have no idea what kind of joy comes into their lives when they receive precious items for their families. We are ever so grateful for what you are doing for a lot of families.
Respectfully,
Mrs. Etta Shirley, Principal
Little Singer Community School
********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for classroom book sets for Navajo High School teachers.
August 22, 2022
Dear Friends,
I am writing to thank all of you for your generous of donation of books to our students at Piñon High School.
A few weeks ago I asked Chris if FoPRR would do a book drive for class sets that our ELA teachers hoped to use with their classes this year. In just a few weeks, all the copies have been donated! We are so grateful for your response; our school did not have the funding available to purchase these book sets for our students. The teachers carefully chose the novels so that there was a cultural connection or high interest. As you may know, many of our students live in poor conditions in the middle of the Navajo Reservation and we are hours from Gallup or Flagstaff. Books are often not present in our students’ homes.
Again, thank you all for your generous donations. The support you have given to our students and families is much appreciated and the message that literacy is important is invaluable.
Sincerely,
Mr. Loren Omoth
Librarian, Piñon High School
********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for the Bingo Prizes donation drive for OLL.
August 19, 2022
Dear Donors,
Thank you very much for the donations you helped us with for our Bingo Night. We are trying to find ways to bring our families together again after being locked down and limited to gatherings. Your donations will help greatly.
Our enrollment went down during Covid and it is slowly coming back up. Our families do not like online learning and are happy to be back in the classrooms as we are also. We are excited to bring our families together for some fun. Thank you again for helping us make this possible.
Sincerely,
********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for our current Food Drive for First Families Now. This is a year-round need, thanks for your help!
August 9, 2022
Chris and Friends of Pine Ridge,
I would like to extend my appreciation to each and every one of you! Thank you for your time and effort in providing much needed food to our families of the Pine Ridge Reservation!
They are all very appreciative and are very thankful for the wonderful food that they receive through the pantry. Thanks again from the bottom of my heart!
Blessings,
********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for our scooters, helmets and puzzles drive for the Yurok Boys & Girls Club.
August 8, 2022
Hi Chris!
Once again you all came through for our Boys & Girls Club of The Yurok Tribe. We have been very busy putting all the puzzles together and been having so much fun scootering around town and we also took a field trip to a skate park.
The kids had a blast! We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Thanks to you we are keeping theses kiddos active and safe with all the helmets donated to us also.
Thanks again!! We truly appreciate it!!
Wok-hlew’
Jessica Farley
Boys & Girls Club of Yurok Tribe
Site Lead/Youth Worker
********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for our school supplies donation drive for OLL.
July 28, 2022
Dear Donors,
It has been a struggle to find teachers this year. I believe I have found just the right amount of highly qualified, dedicated staff to start our year off in a strong way. I will be combining our 1st/2nd grades along with our 3rd/4th grades and will have to split our 7th grade up between our 6th and 8th grades to allow everyone to have a homeroom. This has been stressful to deal with and is quite different then last year, but it looks like it will work great. Then, to walk into the office and see all the boxes of donations that have come from you all simply brought tears to my eyes once again. I hope you know how refreshing and comforting it is to know that there are so many of you out there that are willing to support our needs. Thank you so much for always lending a helping hand. I know we will start off strong thanks to you. God Bless you all.
Sincerely,
Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School
*********************************************************************
This thank you letter is for the Kindergarten and 8th grade graduation party supplies at OLL.
June 17, 2022
Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School
*********************************************************************
Here’s a thank you letter for our Gardening Drive for the Yurok Boys & Girls Club!
June 14, 2022
Good Morning Chris!
We want to give a huge thank you for all of our gardening tools. We are excited to be growing our own food and can’t wait to eat it. This year we planted strawberries, sugar snap peas, kale, tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini. The kids love all of the fun stuff we got donated and makes our garden club fun!! Thanks again, we appreciate it!!!
Best,
Jessica Farley, Site Lead/Youth Worker
Boys & Girls Club of Yurok Tribe
*********************************************************************
This one is for the Elder Cleaning and Household Supplies Drive for Pine Ridge Rez via First Families Now.
May 25, 2022
Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation,
*********************************************************************
Here’s a thank you letter for our Easter Drive for Yurok Head Start children!
February 29, 2022
Dear Chris and our Friends of Pine Ridge,
On behalf of me, my staff, our families, and our community, we want to give a big THANK YOU to all who helped donate items.
The kids loved being able to see and take pictures with the Easter Bunny. The Easter basket bags and fillers were awesome! We are so grateful to have been able to send each child home with their own Easter treats. The children were very happy to participate in our Easter Egg Hunt. Your generous donations made our giveaway a memorable experience for all of our students.
We greatly appreciate all you have done for our community.
Wokhlew (Thank you)!
Yurok Tribe Early Education Childhood Center
Jolleanne Jones
Family Service Coordinator/Site Supervisor
*********************************************************************
Here’s a thank you letter for our Food Drive for the Boys and Girls Club families on the Yurok Reservation.
February 10, 2022
Dear Chris,
On behalf of the Boys and Girls Club of the Yurok Tribe, we send our biggest sincere thank you for all the food donated for our food drive. We have enough food to serve our club members and families, along with some elders. It feels so great to be able to serve these families of our community.
Thank you for all your hard work to make it happen and huge thank you to all the generous doners. Wok-hlew’,!!
Respectfully,
Jessica Defender-Farley
Boys & Girls Club/Yurok Tribe
*********************************************************************
This is a thank you for our blankets and heaters donation drive for First Families Now.
February 10, 2022
Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation,
This is a thank you for the books and games donated to Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School on Pine Ridge Rez. Here’s their current books wishlist.
January 30, 2022
Dear Donors,
Thank you so much for all the games and extra practice you send our way. It is hard enough to try to teach online, but as we bring our students back to in-person learning we must find creative ways to reconnect them with each other along with their academics. These are wonderful ways to allow our students to enjoy learning with their friends. It has been extremely difficult to teach since the pandemic hit us but we are maneuvering around to re-invent the wheel. Your generosity is always appreciated and helpful in allowing us to do this.
Thank you so much for all your support. Your generosity is appreciated each and every day. God Bless you all and your families.
Sincerely,
Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School
*********************************************************************
Here’s a new Valentine’s Day Donation Drive for Jack Norton and Weitchpec Yurok Magnet Elementary Schools!
January 25, 2022
Dear Chris and Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation,
Thank you for your generous outpouring of love to my students. The UPS delivery man has been coming to my house on a daily basis and knows all the names of my three dogs. My two-year old grandson helps me load my Toyota Camry before taking the trip to JNES. We have been giving out bags and bags of goodies and toiletries. Just before Winter Break, we passed out jackets, goodie bags, socks, gloves, hats, and toys. We used some of the donations as rewards for our Native Values program. You have blessed us much—
Students are also enjoying the playground equipment. Basketball players are very thankful for their shoes and basketballs this season. Unfortunately, many of our games have been cancelled due to Covid outbreaks and having to follow Covid protocols—we have been able to play a few games. The team looks great with their new uniforms and shoes—thank you.
Your donors certainly make my students feel special and cared for. My students had a great Christmas celebration in December receiving gifts Santa Claus passed out that were from your donors. Everyone felt special and happy with their presents.
I am sorry for the tardiness of this letter. It has been one of the craziest years in my 28 years of education due to Covid. We do appreciate you—thank you.
Sincerely,
Jason L. Henderson, Principal
Jack Norton Elementary School
Weitchpec Yurok Magnet Elementary School
*********************************************************************
This thank you is for a Baby Shower Donation Drive for the Yurok Reservation.
January 19, 2022
Dear Chris and Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation,
Thank you so much for all of the amazing donations for the ongoing virtual baby shower. All the baby items and diapers are greatly appreciated from all the families and expecting moms in our community here at the Yurok Tribe
Reservation. Seeing all of the handwritten letters and pictures the come with the donations makes it that much more special.
We’re overwhelmed by all the donors support from all over the U.S. and have been so excited to share everything with our community. Again, we are very grateful! We really appreciate your help.
Wokhlew (Thanks)!
Jolleanne Jones Family Service Coordinator/ Site Supervisor
Yurok Tribe Early Childhood Education Center
*********************************************************************
This is from Margaret Keating Elementary School on the Yurok Rez for books and Christmas gifts. Here’s their current books wishlist.
January 12, 2022
Hello donors,
First, a big thank you! Secondly, more gratitude. I’m so grateful for the amazing Christmas present drive we had! In my classroom I cultivate an attitude of gratitude, we recognize the people that give their hard
earned money and time to make these donations possible. I’ve said it twice already but thank you. The outpouring of generosity has been constant and amazing. It’s impossible to truly quantify the impact of getting a student a Christmas present but as someone who got very little as a child, I know that it is appreciated more than you know. When you give, your donation is more than just a present , it’s a window to the rest of the world, letting them see that there are people out there that love and adore them as much as I do.
I can’t speak to all the students but I’ll speak about one. This student doesn’t have much and what they do have they share with everyone and anyone that is in need. This student is the epitome of the classroom culture I try to create and I love seeing the ear-to-ear grin when I’m able to give something to them. Giving the gift of a good education is the perfect holiday present. These presents that are fun, and also educational are most definitely the best. This year your present was added to a book that was donated from my family. The books ranged from an Anna and Elsa storybook collection to fully illustrated copies of Percy Jackson and the Lighting Thief.
As we exit the holiday season, I’m wishing you a time of rest, reflection, and joy.
Lots of love,
Isaiah Wright
MKS Parent, Teacher, Site Council & Advocate
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.