TNR Happenings, August 16, 2021

"Every August since 7th grade I’ve been going to an Indian reservation in Montana. The same dull heavy feeling in the air always hits me when I step off that flight. It’s almost like I’m feeling the stress and the ongoing feeling of pressure from the hurting families in the reservation. The reservation is about an hour away so we always go out to eat before we make our drive. The restaurant is small and right when we walk in I always smell the burnt coffee. As we drive to the Reservation I always see the broken down buildings and dust flying through the air. The one wooden sided building is the one we always go to first. Immediately when we walk in it is very musty and old smelling. We rush to set up all the school supplies to pack into backpacks for the kids. My arms feel like they are going to fall off at the end of the night picking up new backpacks and loading them with supplies, which normally takes over three hours. We finally get back to the old rustic hotel and the feeling of laying on the squeaky bed after standing and moving all day feels like cinder blocks were being removed from your back. The next morning we go back to the same main building with the broken wooden siding and pack food into hundreds of brown bags. When we are done we go door by door and drop off the food to the houses boarded up with no windows. Seeing these houses and the happy faces of the ones we helped made me realize how such a small act makes a big difference in many people's lives. Next is a “kids day''. We play games like gaga ball and street hockey. Kids day is my favorite. I get to meet some of the kids and realize what they are going through at home and how much better it makes them feel when they are here.

Every year when we go there it makes me keep that constant urge to help others and plays a very important role in my life. That feeling of seeing a kid from the year before back there on the kids day and being healthy gives me a feeling that is indescribable, but the closest thing to it is a shock of happiness that runs down my spine for the rest of the day. Being at the Indian reservation and meeting some of the kids my age and talking to them made me realize how much of a challenge it is for kids here, and how they are trying to survive their life. I think about what I’m going to have for dinner. These kids think about if they are going to have dinner. Going each year shows me how privileged I am to have my own bed and a loving family. Living in a nice house and going to a private school made me realize how much I take for granted, things like air conditioning in the summer. I don’t expect it to be hot inside my house because air conditioning is always on while on the reservation most houses don’t have air conditioning. During Christmas time I’m nervous because I’m wondering what I got and if I will like it. Most of these kids walk out of their rooms to nothing. I’m also very privileged to have all my family over on Christmas and most of the families on the reservation only see about half of their family during Christmas. A big part of the kids day is being the father figure. Most of the kids' families are broken apart because some of them are in jail. This experience taught me how much that I take for granted and how little of an act it takes to change a person's life."