A Connecticut-based volunteer group called Simply Smiles is seeking tools and arts-and-crafts supplies to support a summer project at the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation in South Dakota.
The organization said that 300 volunteers would be turning out for the project in La Plant, S.D. “The need for appropriate shelter on the CRST Reservation is dire,” a statement on the group’s website says. Volunteers will repair and rebuild existing homes as well as construct new ones.
“New homes will provide the basic need for shelter and are also a crucial part of the long-term solution for the poverty on the reservation,” Simply Smiles says. Architects, contractors, and engineering firms also have been enlisted to help.
Everything from new and used hammers, chopsaws, and kneepads to screwdrivers and chalklines are on the list of what’s needed. Simply Smiles also is seeking crayons, paints, beads, puzzles, and other supplies for summer camp activities. A complete list of what’s needed is available on the group’s website.
Tools and supplies can be bought and donated online by clicking on a specific tool, following the link, and directing that the tool be sent directly to the posted South Dakota address. Click on “hammers,” for example, and you’ll be taken to an ad for a 16-oz. Kobalt hammer at Lowe’s, selling for $7.98.
Cash donations also are being sought.
Simply Smiles was founded in 2003. Its first project was a children’s home in Oaxaca City, Mexico.
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