Toy drive to benefit American Indian children

Mike Cieciorka gives a child from the Pine Ridge American Indian Reservation a piggy back ride. Cieciorka and Omaha-area musician, Lash LaRue, will once again lead a toy drive to benefit children on the Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Winnebago and Omaha reservations.

It all started with a simple offer of help.

Three years ago on a drive with a friend to an American Indian reservation in South Dakota, Mike Cieciorka, a nurse in the cardiology clinic at UNMC, agreed to help raise money to buy toys for Christmas for the children who live there.

He never dreamed how much the annual toy drive for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation would grow.

“It started out with just one pick-up load of toys, now we take several plus a 24-foot truck filled with toys, and not just for the kids on Pine Ridge but the Rosebud, Winnebago and Omaha Indian Reservations as well,” Cieciorka said.

And not just toys, but warm blankets and coats, computers and school supplies and clothes for families in need on the four reservations.

Larry Dunn, a.k.a. Lash LaRue, lead singer and guitarist of the local rockabilly group, The Mercurys, started the toy drive in 2003, Cieciorka said.

Together the two have distributed hundreds of toys, blankets and coats.

“Last year we gave toys to 900 kids,” Cieciorka said. “This year we have collected 2,000 coats and 500 blankets.”

The response from the faculty, staff and students at UNMC has been tremendous and instrumental in making the toy drive such a success, Cieciorka said.

Concert dates Concert dates for the Toy Drive for the Pine Ridge Reservation are listed below. Admission is $10 or one new unwrapped toy. Dec. 5 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Dec. 6 at Mick’s Music and Bar, 5918 Maple St. Dec. 7 at Barfly, 705 N. 114th St.

This is the first year the faculty, staff and students in the physician assistant program have spearheaded the winter coat and blanket drive. It is the third year that business and finance has helped coordinate the toy drive on campus.

“The response at UNMC has been fantastic, I couldn’t have done this without their support,” Cieciorka said of his involvement with the toy drive.

Monetary donations also are being accepted at the cashier’s window, he said, just be sure to note that it is for the 2008 reservation toy drive.

Any funds left over after the toys are purchased, is given to support the diabetes clinic and heat aid fund on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cieciorka said.

LaRue and his group are hosting concerts in support of the toy drive on Dec. 5, 6 and 7, and local radio station, 89.7 The River, will turn over the station to local musicians for a live music Sunday on Dec. 14 to raise funds starting at 7 a.m.

To learn more about the toy drive check out the Pine Ridge Reservation Toy Drive MySpace page.