My Nonprofit Reviews
Jeffry G. F.
Review for St. Joseph's Indian School, Chamberlain, SD, USA
I have adopted children whose birth father came from the Lakota tribe. So I started to received mailings from St. Joseph's School last year. I have been donating to them up to now, partly because I was impressed by the materials that they send in their newsletters - beautiful cards and calendars, etc. But it's overkill to continue to send all this stuff to me. The packet that I just received in anticipation of the Christmas holiday is filled with tons of stuff - most of which is unnecessary. If they are aware that I am interested in helping native children, why continue to bury me with pens, pads, cheap dreamcatchers, and address labels that I will never use?
They also continue to spell my first name incorrectly, even after I included a note in a donation envelope asking them to correct this. Like everyone else, I already have enough address labels to last for the next 100 years. Please, send no more - just a simple letter with an update on the school should be enough to keep me interested in donating. But now, I am not so sure. The last official info about the credibility of the school fundraising program, as far as I can tell, is from 3 years ago.
Finally, if the school is doing the tribe some good, then I am grateful to hear it. But if the Catholic church is exploiting native children in order to line its pockets, then I want to know about that, too.
We can certainly change your mailing preferences for you. If you could give us a call at 800-341-2235 we can update that you do not wish to receive those items. We can also ensure everything is correct with your name. We are accredited through the Council of Accreditation. Through the Council on Accreditation’s extensive audit process, we receive evaluation by a panel of experts in social services fields. The evaluation, including site visits and interviews with St. Joseph’s personnel and families served, assesses more than just finances. Please read more here: http://www.stjo.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=9199 or visit http://coanet.org/home/ for more information. Lakota children in need of a safe, stable education and culturally-rich home environment have turned to St. Joseph’s Indian School since 1927… at absolutely no financial cost to them. We are extremely grateful for everything our donors do for the children.
