Mary’s Missions, Inc. is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization working on behalf of the homeless, veterans, and Native American women & children.
Each winter, backpacks are provided with warm mittens, scarves, and hats, hygiene items, rain poncho, notebook & pens. In summer, snack bags, including healthy snacks, bottled water, sun screen, hygiene items and 2 $5 McDonald’s gift cards are distributed during June, July & August. The backpack mission began in 2016, with the Snack Bags added in 2022.
Each spring, beginning in 2017, laundry baskets containing sheets, pillow case, pillow, shower curtain & rings, bath towel & wash cloth, Tide Laundry pods and most recently, toilet tissue are delivered to the Milo Huempfner Health Care Center to be distributed to veterans transitioning from homelessness to independent living. A new project, Kitchen Kits, is being created. These kits will give homeless veterans transitioning to independent living, the tools they need to set up a kitchen.
In 2019, a relationship was established between Mary’s Missions and the Wild Horse Butte Community Development Center in Martin, SD, part of the Pine Ridge Reservation. It is the eighth largest and the poorest. Many homes have no electricity, running water or sewage systems. Our mission is to supply clothing, hygiene items, educational materials, and toys to the children, as well as items needed by the women’s shelter.
I started these missions as an individual, in 2016, having semi-retired, giving me the time needed to do the things I thought were important. In 2021, friends offered to take me and all the clothing, educational materials, etc. that would fit into their van to The Wild Horse Butte Community Development Center in Martin, SD. However, the trip was canceled due to health concerns. I had 20 boxes and there was no way I could afford, as an individual, to ship them to South Dakota. Hence, Mary’s Missions, and later Mary’s Missions, Inc. was conceived.
Other ways to help:
Wishlist items benefit Sacred Shawl Women's Shelter founded in 2015 in Martin, SD for the protection of women and children from domestic and sexual violence.