Thoughtful Thursday- Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation Donation Drive

A couple weeks ago I watched "A Hidden America: Children of the Plains" with ABC's 20/20 Diane Swayer, which was about the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. I'm not a crier, but I was moved to tears during this segment. I won't even mention the range of emotions I felt while I watched this. I was so moved that I had to know more and find out what I could do to help.

There is such a great need for items that range from books, clothes, basic needs, school supplies and more, and are needed for infants up to adults. I've included helpful links and a little bit about the donation lists below. Here's the complete list of what schools, as well as their head start program, the library, college, and shelters that need items. Each link will take you to the list of items needed. I love how user friendly each link is. They list the items they need, how many they've received, how many they still need and a contact person, along w/ the address to send things to. Some links have different addresses to send the items to. You can send items via UPS/FedEx and USPS.

This entire school district is in desperate need of books, as well as other items! The books are for elementary up to high school aged kids. You can find a link for each school that's in need here and each link lists the books they need, how many they've received, how many they still and a contact person, along w/ the address to send the books to. You can send books via UPS/FedEx or USPS. They've also made it easy to click on the book that's needed link and you can order many of the books from Barnes & Noble and have them sent to the address given for each school.

They also have links for their 100 Item Challenge, 2011 Christmas Angel Tree Gifts for Head Start Children, 2011 Christmas Angel Tree Gifts for OL CASA Children, 2011 Christmas Angel Tree Gifts for Youth Center Children, A Book Club Books Donation Drive (Catching Fire & Mockingjay are in current need) that need donations.

There's an urgent need for A Children's Winter Coats/Gear Donation Drive for ages K-12 grades. Along w/ coats (sizes are listed by each item) are hats, gloves, scarves, thermal underwear, warm socks, winter boats and shoes. Some places are also in need of school supplies, and you can find the entire list under the An Emergency School Supplies Drive for Crazy Horse School. They need basics like crayons, construction paper, notebooks, spirals, pencils, glue etc. If you're looking for other items to donate please look at their Make a Difference list.

You can find out more ways to donate and helpful links from Diane's "A Hidden America: Children of the Plains" segment here. Be sure to watch the entire episode. You can also follow Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation on twitter.

If you're looking for places to give this upcoming holiday season, please take a moment to look at the lists linked above.