St. Francis Mission Launches Campaign to Fund Education Programs

April 23, 2012 - PRLog -- The St. Francis Mission is proud to announce the launch of “Operation: Backpack,” a campaign to supply and support the Body, Mind and Soul summer day camp. In 2012, the Body, Mind and Soul summer day camp will see over 200 children at 5 locations across the Rosebud Reservation.  The children who attend the Body, Mind and Soul day camp participate in songs, skits, and arts & crafts projects.  They will be joined by ten high school students from St. Xavier High school in Cincinnati, Ohio who act as mentors. In addition to traditional day camp activities, each child is provided meal cooked by our many staff and volunteers for lunch.  

“It only takes $12 to sponsor a child of the Rosebud for one day at the Body, Mind and Soul day camp,” says Father John Hatcher, President of the St. Francis Mission, “and $60 to sponsor one child for a week.  By coming to the Body, Mind and Soul day camp, the children of the Rosebud get lots of love and attention, pray, and grow stronger in hope.”  The program offers a supportive environment for children who – in a few short years – are at risk, as the Rosebud Reservation has one of the highest suicide rates among young people in the country.  Donations are accepted at http://www.sfmission.org/donate/.

In addition to sponsoring children to the Body, Mind and Soul camp, “Operation: Backpack” gives donors the opportunity to purchase much-needed supplies for the day camp via an Amazon.com Not for Profit wish list available on Amazon.com.  Any supplies not used during the Body, Mind and Soul camps will be reused during our fall education projects. Links to the Amazon Wish List can be found at: http://www.sfmission.org/operationbackpack/.

About The St. Francis Mission

The St. Francis Mission is a ministry of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) among the 20,000 Lakota (Sioux) people on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in south-central South Dakota. It is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1886.  The purpose of the Mission is to re-evangelize Catholic Lakota people and bring the Gospel of Jesus the Christ to those who have not heard it. The Mission respects the traditions of the Lakota people, and collaborates with them to meet the spiritual, educational, social, and physical needs of the community.

St. Francis Mission is the largest not-for-profit organization on the Rosebud Reservation that is not a governmental controlled or funded program.  Currently it supports work in six parishes, Icimani Ya Waste Recovery Center, the White River Recovery Center, the Father Jones Religious Education Center in St. Francis, the CYO Religious Education Center in Rosebud, the Wiwila Wakpala after school center in Spring Creek, the Buechel Memorial Lakota Museum, and KINI Radio 96.1 FM.  All work is done in cooperation with Bishop Robert D. Gruss of the Diocese of Rapid City.

To learn more about the St. Francis Mission, visit http://www.sfmission.org