Heating money goes to tribe
Mar 15, 2:21 PM EDT
PINE RIDGE, S.D. (AP) -- Members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe have received financial assistance for their home heating bills.
The money came through a partnership of Citgo Petroleum and the Citizens Programs Corp., said Kevin Steele, Oglala Sioux Tribe judiciary coordinator.
More than $636,000 was provided.
The money will help pay winter heating bills of more than 2,300 households on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Heating help on the way for low-income reservation families
By Kevin Woster, Journal staff
The worst of winter is almost over on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where help is on the way for low-income families struggling to heat their homes.
Robert Running Bear, coordinator of energy assistance programs for the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said Friday that the big boost for home heating needs will come from a $636,000 donation from CITGO Petroleum Corp. Running Bear said he had been working with CITGO -- the giant Venezuelan oil company under the ultimate influence of President Hugo Chavez -- to secure the donation and learned Wednesday that the money had been approved.
When the CITGO check arrives in a few days, it will be distributed to families in reservation districts through the tribal council, Running Bear said. Additional help had already arrived this week in the form of the tribe's final payment this season of $73,000 from a federal low-income energy assistance program, Running Bear said.
So after almost two months of reliance on a flickering flame of smaller donations, the tribe's energy program will finish the main heating season stoked up on more money, he said.
"It's been kind of iffy. We'd like to have had this money sooner, but we're grateful we have it now," he said. "We'll ask the people to be patient and try to survive over the weekend. The propane will start arriving next week."
By January, the tribe has used up the $664,000 in federal energy assistance -- about half of the previous year's allotment. As Running Bear and other tribal officials worked to find other funds, the tribal assistant program barely operated on area donations.
The tribe's Prairie Winds Casino provided about $35,000, and the tribal Safety of Dams program offered $10,000, Running Bear said. The First Nations Oweesta Corp of Rapid City donated $32,000, he said.
"That kind of carried us through. We're very appreciative for those donations," he said.
The CITGO donation is among the latest hefty heating assistance gift to area Indian tribes from CITGO and its parent company, Petroleos de Venezuela -- a national oil company of Venezuela. Oglala tribal judiciary coordinator Kevin Steele praised the Venezuelan company for its charitable spirit.
"I thought this was pretty cool, something that will really help our people," Steele said.
Many on the reservation still need the assistance, tribal member Phyllis Wilcox of Wanblee said Friday. Wilcox said she was on her last bottle of propane in a house with six other residents, including children. In another house nearby, her daughter, several children and an adult brother with physical disabilities also were running low on propane, Wilcox said.
"We're just holding our breath right now," she said.
Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or Kevin Woster
Link to Report
Natali Fani
Associate Director
Venezuela Information Office - VIO
2000 P Street NW, Suite 240
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202 347 8081, ext. 603
Fax: 202 223 8029
Website
Special thanks to Dorinda Moreno for the lead.
Contents
April 2007 Reports
Last updated on April 5, 2007