FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 29, 2024
Rapid City, SD – Yesterday, NDN Collective presented a $20,000 check to Venoms Athletics, an organization supporting access to sports and healthy lifestyle choices for Native youth in Rapid City.
The grant, which is coming from NDN Collective’s President & Partnerships fund, will allow the organization to sustain their free program for youth to get involved in healthy lifestyle activities and exposure to sports. Part of the funds will also help sponsor 25 kids this summer to become members of the local YMCA.
“This grant means that we can reach a lot more kids,” said Venom Athletics president TJ McCauley. “Not everyone can afford to do sports and be active – this grant will help them reach their dreams and goals. These little ones are our future.”
“Everything we do, we do from our hearts – for our families, for our people, for our land,” said NDN Collective president and CEO Nick Tilsen. “What Venoms does is not just about sports – it’s about leadership development, mentorship. Anybody who’s ever raised kids knows they need mentors, no matter what. If kids have a sense of belonging and responsibility, it improves our whole community.”
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NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building, and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.