The Sequester kills: a note from the Reservation

Our good friend the Rev Margaret Watson, who serves on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota,  has posted a heart-felt letter to Congress on her blog. 

The "Sequester" cuts have cut to the bone here on the Reservation. ...they have received no monies since the beginning of March. They are coming to my door asking for heating fuel, food, clothes, diapers. Children are at risk. There are no Tribal programs that can assist these folks, they are mostly disabled, elderly with grandchildren in the home, or are desperate for work.... 

I cannot afford to feed all the people who come to my door asking for help. I have emptied my own freezer, my own cupboard in order to help these desperate folks.
....
In the last six months, I have done 40 funerals --six infants, two teen suicides, and many, many folks under the age 40.

And food, shelter and heat are not the only problems here --the Indian Health Services were also part of the Sequester cuts. And the cuts are affecting the Head Start programs.... 

Have you all become so twisted up in your political lives that you have forgotten the people you have been called to serve?

Go, read the whole thing.  Weep for the suffering people, in the heartland of the "greatest country", at the hands of  Congress.  Share this story widely (this should go viral, people). Send it to your Congress members.  And send  prayers and maybe some material help towards  the Cheyenne River Episcopal Mission in South Dakota.

Cheyenne River Episcopal Mission
c/o Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota
500 S. Main Avenue
Sioux Falls, SD 57104-6814