The Pre-Veterinary Club, along with Walking Shield American Indian Society, participates in an annual holiday gift drive that incorporates the generosity of students and faculty to provide toys, clothes and backpacks for impoverished American Indian schoolchildren.
For many of these children between the ages of 5 and 13, there is little incentive for staying in school without the Walking Shield program. It was recently that the organization decided to reward only the children who were actively enrolled in school, with the hope that a promise of gifts for the holiday season would entice them to follow through with an education.
“The United States has created a scenario that has lead to high drug and alcohol abuse among [American] Indians,” said Dr. Leland Shapiro, chair of the pre-vet department, “often leaving children without role models.”
Since its decision only to give to children who are enrolled in school, retention rates have “soared” on reservations involved with Walking Shield, according to Shapiro.
Pierce College will be providing gifts for 200 to 250 children of the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota, located in the northern region of the state.
The reservations chosen are generally very isolated from major cities and factories. Because of their remote locations, residents of these reservations are often not able to find a steady source of income or develop work skills that potential jobs may require. Shapiro believes an education would “help poor [American] Indians succeed in the United States.”
The pre-vet department has devoted an exemplary amount of time and resources to animals since its creation in 1990. It now boasts California’s highest transfer rate of any two-year program into four-year schools of veterinary medicine.
Every once and a while, however, pre-vet students like to help out humans as well.
“I think that community service, any type, is a very effective tool for reminding us that, while we all feel deeply committed to representing the needs of animals, we are responsible for the well-being of all species,” said Leigh Trout, last year’s Pre-Vet Club president.
The Pre-Vet Club, since it and the department were created in 1990, has been extremely committed to giving back to the community. Its members are expected to perform 30 hours of service distributed between community service, volunteering to assist in events on campus, and the Walking Shield gift drive.
Through the now-defunct dairy department, Pierce became involved with Walking Shield in 1987, three years before Shapiro created the pre-vet program. He first learned of the group after speaking with several homeless American Indians while volunteering at the Los Angeles Mission, a nonprofit organization that provides for the disadvantaged.
Shapiro learned of Walking Shield’s active involvement with American Indian children and decided to immediately get involved.Founded in 1986, Walking Shield has been working closely with tribal leaders as well as high schools, colleges and the United States government to improve the living conditions of underprivileged American Indians.
The give drive has been an annual event since the beginning of Walking Shield.
The organization follows the beliefs and visions of its founder, the late Phil Stevens, Special Chief of the Great Sioux Nation, who sold his own business and abandoned his 19 years of extensive missile defense experience to devote the rest of his life to providing homes as well as hope for American Indians across the country.
Walking Shield, which was also Stevens’ American Indian name, has provided more than 900 housing units and offered medical services to homeless American Indians across the country.
“Knowing that the backpacks [the Pre-Vet Club] put together motivated the children to stay in school and learn to better their community is a very rewarding experience [for the students],” said a representative for the pre-vet club.
Donors are encouraged to contribute a large variety of gifts ranging from coloring books and crayons to winter jackets and hygiene items.
All of the items donated are placed inside of backpacks, so the children have a place to store their belongings. Donors may supply the backpacks with their gifts, however it is not required.
In addition to making gift donations, individuals are also welcome to “adopt” students. Those who adopted children would receive the name, age and size of a child, allowing for a more specific gift to be purchased.
“I always give a little personal touch to each backpack I donate, letting [the children] know that people are good and there is always hope,” said Melissa Krause, who, along with her family, has been donating to the gift drive for three years. “Adopting a child makes the experience of giving very personal.”
The Pre-Vet Club asks that all donations be kept until the day of Nov. 6. All gifts will be sorted and prepared for shipment on Nov. 10. Gifts can be dropped off at the Animal Sciences Building, Room 4101.