Below is an article published by Tri-Town News:

It is very cold in the winter on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. There is a great need for warm clothing as the cold Arctic winds blow across the Badlands and straight to the doorways of the Oglala Lakota homes.

With that vivid picture in mind, pupils who attend Jackson Liberty High School and the McAuliffe Middle School have stepped up to do something to help ease the winter chill.

"We held a sock hop to kick off our month-long sock drive," said Jackson Liberty High School Key Club President Alexandra Murdocca. "The Key Club and the McAuliffe Builders Club are having a friendly competition to see which club can collect the most socks."

Both school organizations are sponsored by the Jackson Kiwanis Club and both have the same aim in mind: to help the youngsters who attend the Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

"The kids are very excited about the activities," said Ellen Fuge, teacher adviser.

Admission to the dance, which was held on the afternoon of Feb. 2, cost each guest a pair of socks and $1.

"The money collected will be used to pay for shipping and postage for the socks which will be sent to the Red Cloud Indian School," Fuge said.

The Pine Ridge Reservation is in the southwestern corner of South Dakota, a place where summers can be extremely hot with temperatures reaching into in the 100s, and frigid winters with temperatures dipping below zero and a wind chill that can drop below minus 20 degrees.

Residents of the American Indian reservation are considered to be living in the poorest spot in the United States. Some people live in wood frame homes with no windows, no appliances and no means to keep warm. The floors are earth.

The winner of the friendly competition between Jackson Liberty and McAuliffe will be awarded a trophy and it is hoped this will become an annual event, Murdocca said.

Tina Merdanian, public relations director at the Red Cloud Indian School, said the school was founded in 1888 through the efforts of Chief Red Cloud, who petitioned the U.S. government to allow for the black robes, the Jesuits, to come and set up a school.

"We keep Red Cloud's dream alive by giving the children the skills they need to compete in the large society and hope they return to the Pine Ridge," said Merdanian, who is a product of the Red Cloud School and whose children attend the school today. She said she returned to Red Cloud to give back what she received.

Today there is 85 percent unemployment on the reservation and the annual income for families is only $5,000 per year, she said.

"Then you look at the reality of employment," Merdanian said. "There are only four primary employers in Pine Ridge: education, Indian health services, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the tribal government. There's not much opportun-ity."

Merdanian said today the graduates of Red Cloud are moving on to higher education and are returning to give back to the people. Some graduates are starting their own businesses, she said.

"But it's small steps at a time," said Merdanian, who noted that it was not until the late 1970s that the residents were allowed to practice their culture again.

Today Red Cloud students learn history, art, Lakota language and government, along with reading, writing and math.

"Today at Red Cloud there is a partnership between Lakota, Catholicism and the Jesuit philosophy," she said.

Last year, 93 percent of the Red Cloud graduating class went on to higher education. In that class were five Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship recipients.

"These are the positive results of what is happening at Red Cloud," Merdanian said. "But we cannot charge tuition. It costs more than $10 million a year just to keep the doors open. Of that, 82 percent of our operating budget comes from contributions."

Merdanian said friends of the school from across the country help to keep the doors open.

"The need is great," she said. "Our buses travel 1,600 miles a day on average and the cost of gas and diesel fuel is very high."

There are four high schools on the Pine Ridge Reservation, including Red Cloud, and there are a total of eight elementary schools.

Housing has always been an issue on the reservation and it remains an issue.

"There are still some of the grass roots (Lakota) people who still have no running water, no electricity and [some] may live in log houses with dirt floors," Merdanian said.

There are about 35,000 residents on the reservation, according to Indian Health Service's records. Of that number, 600 children attend the Red Cloud schools. About 40 percent of the population on the reservation is 18 years old and under.

Merdanian said there is always a need for new or used warm clothing, funds to pay for hot lunches, fuel for the buses and to pay for the daily operating expenses.

"For many of the children, the only nutritious meal for that day is at school," the director said. "It's monetary contributions that assist us in what we need to do and that's where the need is the greatest.

"It's wonderful what these students at Jackson Liberty High School and McAuliffe Middle School are doing. I want to recognize the students and staff at these two schools for their efforts and hard work in organizing and collecting these socks for our students here at Red Cloud. It's that type of generosity that the Lakota people believe in. It's one of our strongest values."