Thank you to everyone who supported our most recent chiropractic mission trip with Love Has No Colors to the Ft. Peck Indian Reservation in Northeastern Montana. Crossroads practice members donated over 50 new backpacks in varying colors and designs as well as over $500 in monetary donations! Our cash donations directly funded projects on the Rez and supported the unofficial orphanage in Frazer, MT run by the most amazing, selfless, caring woman named Rose.
Every day was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. We saw families torn apart by addiction (especially alcohol, meth and heroin), heard stories of loved ones lost to suicide and observed young faces with heavy, serious eyes that gave hint of their difficult lives. Many of our 40+ volunteers had been to the reservation before. (The four of us from Crossroads alone have made a combined eleven volunteer trips to Ft. Peck.) Just the fact that outsiders are keeping their word to return to the Rez year after year brings hope and love to the community and builds trust between our group and the tribe. Over the years, the Love Has No Color team has built a movie theatre, an outdoor ice rink, bunk beds for the orphanage, provided Christmas presents to EVERY single school-aged child yearly, hosted dozens of free adjusting clinics, funded dozens of community events and more. Before each trip out the team fundraises months in advance, chooses projects that leave a lasting impact, and then while on the Rez the team works 12+ hour days to maximize time. And the 2018 summer trip was no different…
I was thrilled to put my hands to work alongside the other chiropractors to adjust hundreds of children, adults, incarcerated men and women and even the prison guards. Our non-chiropractor Crossroads volunteers, Brooke, Emilee and Ethan, hosted bracelet making, nail painting and sidewalk art at the two kids fairs, which served as an opportunity for them to connect and talk with the children. The entire mission team also stuffed and distributed over 800 backpacks to the kids, fed hundreds of tribe members at the Kids Days, packed hundreds of grocery bags with non-perishables and delivered them door-to-door in two different towns and built a geodesic dome greenhouse for the community in Poplar. All in just a few days! Our success truly was in the teamwork.
We were honored and humbled to serve and want to thank everyone once again who supported our involvement with Love Has No Colors. While we accomplished a lot, there’s still more work to be done. We definitely look forward to returning to Ft. Peck again in the future.
In love and health,
Dr Stephanie
