The Red Cloud Humanitarian Fund
was organized in December 2004 as an unincorporated association in
order to raise funds for meeting the basic needs of the residents and
citizens of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Poverty and a
lack of economic opportunity have created deplorable conditions for the
residents of the more remote Indian reservations like Pine Ridge where
many residents live in substandard housing which lack the life
sustaining resources that most of us take for granted. The mission of
the Red Cloud Humanitarian Fund is to raise funds for the provision of running water, adequate plumbing, food, and shelter for these people.
It is a fitting match because, the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge intends to be a vehicle that brings awareness to the deplorable
conditions found on Pine Ridge and other of the Nation’s poorer Indian
reservations. To help accomplish this goal, a feature length
documentary is being created by Oscar nominated producer David Roma.
The documentary film is based on the 2011 Challenge and will
follow in the footsteps of David Roma’s previous documentaries in that
it will be both entertaining and socially informative. The social cause
at hand of course is the current situation of Native Americans,
specifically those of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, whose struggle
has been ongoing for hundreds of years with no clear remedy in sight.
With some of the worst levels of poverty, unemployment, infant
mortality rates, teen suicides, adult diabetes, cervical cancer and
overall life expectancy in the world, Pine Ridge is often seen as
ground zero for Native causes. The film weaves together the trials and
tribulations of the Hoka Hey Challengers with those of the Native
Americans; who struggle everyday just to survive.
Beyond the
film however, several thousands of dollars were raised for the Red Cloud
Humanitarian Fund through the efforts of our Hoka Hey participants and
supporters during the 2012 Challenge. In fact,
special appreciation goes out to Rob Carlo, Tim Menzie, Dominick
Zappolla and Matt Klebe (Kelley Babbin) for selflessly returning their
prize award checks to the event as a contribution to Red
Cloud Humanitarian Fund!
With this kind
of support, the Hoka Hey Motorcycle Challenge and the Red Cloud
Humanitarian Fund can promote pride and dignity to the community by
improving living conditions and restoring a sense of comfort and well
being through the development of life sustaining resources such as the
development of water, housing, food, shelter and other basic life
resource necessities on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and elsewhere.
