PAYING IT FORWARD BY GIVING BACK

By VIVIAN LaMOORE, INAAJIMOWIN EDITOR

Each year during the holidays, Band members in District I are gifted an extra appreciation from the District I Representative’s Office in the form of a $25 Walmart gift card. For some Band members, $25 isn’t a lot of money, but for others, that $25 can make a big difference — especially for Mille Lacs Band member kids in foster care. In 2020, her first year as the Office Manager for the District I Representative’s Office, Darla Roache and members of the Family Services Department collaborated on an idea to give Mille Lacs Band kids in foster care gift cards.

Roache began to work with the Health and Human Services Family Services Director, requesting a list of names of Mille Lacs Band enrolled children so that the District I office could give them a card. Unfortunately, due to HIPPAA and Band privacy policies, rules, and regulations, Family Services is not allowed to share that information. Additionally disappointing, due to the Band policies on gift card distribution, each recipient must verify they are an enrolled Band member living in either District I or the Urban area. That combination put a stop to the foster care kids gift card idea for that year.

While it was disappointing to Roache, she understood the policies and appreciated them, yet she was determined to find a way to help the foster care kids. She did not give up. “The holidays are such a great time to donate, and I really wanted to do something within our own community for our kids,” Roache said.

The following year, 2021, she began early collaborating with District I Representative Virgil Wind and Human Services Executive Director Carmen Kalk. Roache pitched the donation option to be done during the District I gift card distributions. Community members in District I and the Urban area could donate — or give back — the card they received, which would then be donated to Family Services to be used by the Foster Care program to purchase gifts for children in a Mille Lacs Band foster care home. Representative Wind and Executive Director Carmen Kalk were in agreement that this was a great idea and they decided to move forward with it.

“We were able to offer a couple of different ways for people to donate,” Roache said. “They could do it in person at the distributions, or send me an email stating they would like to donate their gift card along with their address for confirmation. I wanted to make it convenient for people who wanted to donate, but were not able to do so in person. This worked great! I received most of our donations via email. The emails also served as their signature for their issued gift card, which is required.”

This past year, 2022, was the second season of the gift card give-back option. Over the course of the last two years, District I, Urban, and in-state Band members donated over $5,000 in Walmart gift cards for the Mille Lacs Band foster care children. In 2021, a little over $3,000 was donated, and in 2022, slightly over $2,000 was donated.

“I was thrilled with the amount of people who were willing to donate their card to be used to purchase a gift for a child in foster care. While a $25 Walmart gift card may not seem like much to some, it may help make a child’s Christmas a little happier,” Roache said. “And that’s the reason I really wanted to do this.”

"I would like to give a huge shout-out to the 200+ people who found it in their hearts to give back. They took the time to make it a point to go out of their way for this special occasion,” District I Representative Virgil Wind said. This is a great testament of the wonderful community that we live in.”

Roache echoed that statement and added, “We would also like to express our gratitude to the Health and Human Services Family Services staff who also helped to make this happen. They were a tremendous help in purchasing the gifts and getting them to the kids in foster homes.”

Rep. Wind wanted to make sure Roache received recognition for her ideas and follow-through developing and managing the process. “It wouldn’t have happened without her thoughtful dedication,” he said.

The District I Representative’s office is looking forward to continuing this option with future holiday gift card distributions.