Christmas on the Reservation: When You Have The Right Friends…
We had a very merry band of elves, including Dr. Heather Freedlund, husband Jon, and their kiddos, Angel, Mikalah, Natelie, and Max, along with Dr. Sabrina Chen-See and son, Nicholas, and Dr. Lisa Graham, Clarise Klassen, and Dr. Andrena Sayles. Thanks to all of their hard work we got all of the gifts distributed with the help of the tour bus, driver, and guide at our disposal to get to all the schools. It was in the 40’s, sunny and no snow. Quite a contrast from last year at this time with 20 feet of snow at -40 degrees. Staying at the comped rooms at the Casino (with an indoor pool) sure is different than the Homestead near Fort Peck. And having an after-event celebration at a real steak house was such a treat. Especially having all the TNR kids (2nd generation of TNR) along, making the trip extra special. Showing kids that they can make a difference is an altogether different direction than they’re used to. Often times their humanitarian spirits are “dumbed down” in schools of theirs, and instead of experiencing life, they experience the seemingly endless battery of tests. Their parenting is second to none; the world needs more TNR. These kids are great travelers, polite, have that all-in attitude, and talk about energetic and smart!!! They were always looking to help out, and the kids on the Reservation were so surprised at the gifts. People knew about our Kids Day last summer and are already looking forward to the next one. For a first run, this Christmas on the Reservation went as smooth as possible. The last stop (6,000 kids) went down to the last gift. We were a bit concerned that we didn’t have enough, because adding a second Reservation to Love Has No Color really upped the ante from the years before. Dr. Heather mentioned how the gifts have strangely multiplied before on Fort Peck (fish and loaves of bread) and it happened again.
Of special note was the help of Kenny Smoker. You read that correctly, Kenny Smoker, of the Fort Peck Reservation. Upon arriving in Minneapolis, MN, I got a text (yes, my phone gets text messages) that we were short about 150 gifts. By the time we landed in Grand Forks, ND, the number was up to 300 gifts. Gulp…what to do? Then a light bulb went off and I called Kenny Smoker. We told him of our predicament and asked if there was a surplus of gifts we could bring to the Spirit Lake Reservation. He was in a meeting and asked us to call back in an hour. We called in one hour and he dropped what he was doing, did an inventory and said they had enough gifts. We ditched our car and opted for a truck; a Dodge Ram with a Hemi in it and Dr. Ed driving. This was going to get interesting…
Want to read what happens next? Stay tuned for the next blog post!
