By Meenu Mahajan | Senior Development Associate
A Global Friendship (AGF) would like to thank all its Global Giving donors for contributing to our campaign for raising funds for our project helping to raise funds for Native American women of the Pine Ridge Community. Thanks to the contributions we have recieved $40 and are working to raise the balance of the money so that we can provide more women with assistance in setting up micro businesses and making trendy jewellery products that AGF will sell through its network of over 140 boutiques in the US.
Our project site, the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota is amongst the poorest Native American communities. As per Diane Sawyer’s report on ABC news5, 65-80% of adults in the Pine Ridge community are unemployed. Nearly half of the Reservation residents live below poverty level, and life expectancy is amongst the lowest in the western world.
Unemployment and lack of opportunities is a major cause of poverty amongst the Lakota Sioux in the Reservation. The proposed project aims to fulfill this need for basic opportunities and provide the resources needed to assist the unemployed women for transforming their embroidery skills into a micro-enterprise that can provide them and their families with a sustainable income. By working with tribe women who have traditional weaving and embroidery skills, AGF will stimulate local entrepreneurship and provide invaluable assistance in product development, small business skills, and most importantly marketing and promotion of the final product.
AGF provides business and marketing support to over 65 artisans alongwith robust sales channels that place their handmade jewellery to over 140 storefronts in the US. This has been possible due to the dedicated support of about 35 volunteer staff and a 6 member sales team across the country. All profits from sales are re-directed to the artisan community through community development programs such as clean drinking water.
We continue our campaign to raise funds for our Pine Ridge project that benefits Native American community and thank you for your immensely generous support to AGF.
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