Kerstyn Buehrig, a mental health therapist with Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis, and others organize toys for the Wo Otúh’an Wi Toy Drive at the Kathy J. Weinman Children’s Advocacy Center. Donations will benefit children on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in Eagle Butte, South Dakota.

This time of year, it would be easy to confuse the auditorium in the Kathy J. Weinman Children’s Advocacy Center on the University of Missouri–St. Louis campus with Santa’s workshop.

Volunteer “elves” in festive hats diligently sort through hundreds of donated toys, boxing them to send to children in need on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. Jerry Dunn, executive director of Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis, said the operation is a sight to behold.

“We’ve got bottles to Barbies, drones to dinosaurs,” Dunn said with a laugh. “I mean, we’ve got everything here.”

The charitable effort is part of the Cheyenne River Youth Project’s annual Wo Otúh’an Wi Toy Drive. The Lakota phrase translates to “moon of giving away presents.” The collaboration grew from an existing relationship between CASGSL and the reservation.

Since 2018, Assistant Teaching Professor Dana Klar and Dunn have traveled to the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation with UMSL community members to volunteer at the RedCan Graffiti Jam, an invitational graffiti festival showcasing Indigenous artists and visiting artists from around the world.

“Because of our involvement with RedCan and our commitment to that, CRYP asked us if we would consider taking over the St. Louis hub of the toy drive,” Dunn said. “This toy drive has been going on for 30 years almost.”

Julie Garreau, the founder of CRYP, initially connected with Joyce Smith, a local woman who started the St. Louis hub for the annual Christmas toy drive. Smith led the effort until 2011 before handing the reins over to Jennifer Counts and Nita Holt. Three years ago, Dunn and the CASGSL took over the operation.

“We thought it would be a great opportunity to further our relationship with the Cheyenne River Youth Project,” Dunn said.

Each year, kids on the reservation write letters about themselves, and then they have the opportunity to ask for clothes, toys or other items. This holiday season, CASGSL received about 340 such letters.

“Cheyenne River collects those and then sends them to us in batches,” Dunn explained. “What we do then is offer the community the opportunity to adopt one of those letters, if you will. We send them the letter, and then they go out and shop for the child, put everything in a tote or a box and bring it up here to the Weinman building and drop it off.”

Last year, Dunn also introduced Amazon and Target wish lists for those who want to contribute without shopping in person. Both lists will remain open until Dec. 8.

Dunn said some children ask for the “moon and stars,” but often, they will request basic necessities for their parents or grandparents.

“This particular tribal nation, some of the folks that we work with are direct descendants of the Wounded Knee Massacre,” Dunn said. “Economically, there are a lot of challenges. Obviously, they’re very rich in culture, tradition and community, but economic resources really are hard for them to come by.”

However, the St. Louis region has been eager to lend a helping hand. Many community members are generous enough to adopt more than one letter. Dunn said Linda Key, a donor from Shiloh, Illinois, takes on a dozen letters each year and also buys additional gifts.

“It took us three cars – and one was a truck – to get everything from her garage over here on Sunday,” Dunn said. “It’s just extra stuff that she buys throughout the year, and then we’re able to fulfill those unclaimed letters.”

Other regular donors supplement the gifts from the wish lists with personal touches. Kathy King makes “babies in a basket” for the kids with handmade blankets and pillows. She recently delivered 70 of the homemade bundles to the Weinman Center.

For the past week, volunteers, including CASGSL staff members, child advocacy studies students and community members, have been sorting, organizing and packing gift boxes in preparation to load the delivery truck next week. Climate Express, a trucking company based in Union, Missouri, is a long-time partner on the toy drive, and the company has regularly donated the use of one of its semi-trucks, affectionately known as the “Santa Express.” To ensure gifts make it aboard the Santa Express before its departure on Dec. 13, the drop-off deadline for donors is Dec. 11.

Dunn said it’s gratifying to make such a tangible difference in the lives of the children on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.

“It’s very heartwarming, particularly with the connection between our team and RedCan,” she said. “We’ve watched some of these kids grow up. I mean, we’ve been going to RedCan for six years. It’ll be seven years coming up. So, some of these kids that we’re seeing the letters from, we know them, and we work with them. We’ve watched them grow as young men and women and young artists. Being able to give something back to them and know that you are putting a smile on their face and that their holiday is going to be a little brighter, it’s just rewarding in a way that you can’t really describe adequately.”

Sign up to adopt a letter or learn how to make a donation.

Visit the Amazon wish list.

Visit the Target wish list.