SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — A national fundraising campaign to help Native American students in South Dakota is now targeting San Diegans; and while the students' stories will certainly tug on your heart-strings, there's something you should know before reaching for the checkbook.
In a plea for donations, the St. Joseph's Indian School in South Dakota sends out 30 million mailers every year. Inside are stories from Native American children who go there who need your help.
One letter from “Josh Little Bear” reads, in part:
Like other kids here, my home on the reservation isn’t a safe place for me to be. My dad sometimes drinks and hits me. My mom didn’t want me anymore. She chose drugs over me.
The letter includes a picture of “Josh” whose letter thanks the would-be donor for keeping him and other children safe.
The problem is: these tug-at-your-heart-strings stories are not entirely true.
The school admits, Josh Little Bear is not a real person but they insist, Josh's story is a true story of the very real and challenging situation that far too many children face.
The school admits they do push the edge on their marketing - enough to take in $51 million from donors last year.
The school's marketing director and the president of the school agreed to meet with a news crew, then the school denied any further comment.
A real Indian reservation near by - the Crow Creek Sioux - is angry at how St. Joseph's - a school run by non-Indians - is raising a fortune off of racial stereotypes.
"First of all, I don’t know who Josh Little Bear is and there is no Josh Little Bear around here,” said Leonard Pease a member of the Crow Creek Sioux. “It makes Indians look bad."
The private school does appear to be taking care of its children well, but in the long run, Native Americans question if these fake pleas are actually helping Native Americans or making them look bad.