Pine Ridge, S.D. (KELO) — Even in 2025 there are people out there who may still find themselves unable to fill their homes with everyday needs.
Re-Member is located on Pine Ridge Reservation and has been helping those in need for nearly three decades.
From building beds to cutting tons of firewood to help people keep warm during the winter months, non-profit Re-Member is making a difference one day at a time.
“It is a service-learning experience. So folks come on out here and they engage and work on meaningful projects to help improve the community, to improve the quality of life and also hear from local speakers and cultural presenters throughout the week. Voices from within this community to share the story, some of the history, and some of the reality here on Pine Ridge,” Executive Director William Paese said.
For 30 weeks from March through September volunteers show up to help, which can be up to 40 new individuals each week, who spend their week putting their time to good use.
“Re-Member does it, I think, so well. We have an opportunity to build, to cut, to slice, to measure, to screw, and to deliver. So this week a subset of volunteers will have an opportunity to go and set up bunk beds for individuals. And seeing the finished product take effect,” Denver Academy High School Teacher Wanda Zimmermann said.
These volunteers include students from high school and colleges from across the nation, last year 33 states and 5 countries had representatives volunteering.
“Chopping up firewood, most people don’t have heating in their home. So this initiative is really important to the community. And we also build beds, a lot of people, the beds we deliver, it’s the first bed they’ve ever had,” Colorado Junior Ian Johnson said.
In addition to building they have another property where they grow fresh produce that is distributed to the community.
“Last year we grew nearly 2,000 pounds of produce. This year we have a couple high tunnel greenhouses so we’re hopeful to grow nearly 4,000 pounds of produce or a couple tons is the goal for that property this year,” Paese said.
When these volunteers aren’t working with their hands, the stories about the history and culture of Pine Ridge provide a new perspective to their lives.
“You really get to understand that these are just people and their suffering is tragic but it is like suffering that exists everywhere in the world and that suffering shouldn’t act as a barrier between us and them understanding each other,” Johnson said.
Denver Academy has been bringing students up to Pine Ridge for over 16 years and continues to see great progress made in their students in this short time.
“By week’s end we have a long processing and without fail, as we sit in our circle, halfway between here and Denver, comments come out of those students’ mouths that keep me coming back, transformation,” Zimmermann said.
“Obviously volunteers do meaningful work that is tremendously beneficial to the community. They receive a bunch of gratitude for that work, they feel good about the work they do and they should, but I also think that our volunteers receive a lot from this community in terms of human connection, receiving a different perspective of being informed on the reality here on Pine Ridge that too many people don’t know enough about,” Paese said.
In addition to firewood, beds, and outhouses, Re-Member takes in all types of requests to better help the community such as ramps, steps, and more in an effort to build the community up.
