"We always see eagles," said Anthony Hanson, nodding toward the majestic bald eagle drifting in the wind along U.S. Highway 18.

"They're guiding us, making sure we're getting to where we're headed," said Hanson, the regional director for CRSC. "We know we're doing something right when we see the eagles."

To the Lakota, the eagle is the most revered of all animals because it serves as the messenger between humans and the Great Spirit.

In addition to its food programs, CRSC created Running Strong for American Youth in 1986 in partnership with Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills, an Oglala Lakota.

From its headquarters in Alexandria, Va., Running Strong oversees CRSC food programs in South Dakota.

The Cheyenne River Youth Project in Eagle Butte is another CRSC program.

Christmas preparations started in early fall at the youth project, according to director Julie Garreau, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

The youth project also sponsors a Santa's Toy Shop night for families enrolled in the youth project's programs. Parents are invited to shop for new toys. Proceeds from the toy night help support the project's programming.

For many families, traveling to Pierre or Rapid City to shop is a hardship, Garreau said.

Garreau also supervises an annual toy drive that last year brightened Christmas for more than 1,000 children on the Cheyenne River reservation.

Another 500 elderly residents on the reservation also received Christmas gifts.

People from all over the world donate new toys or contribute financial support for the toy drive.

Volunteers also come from all over the world to help sort, wrap and deliver the gifts.

Children are invited to write letters to Santa. Adults are asked to note the gender and sizes of each child.

Sometimes, children will have a long list of "I wants," Garreau said. Others will request something as endearing as "Please take care of my uncle in Iraq."

Garreau and a team of volunteers try to take care of material requests.

"Our goal is to provide one gift on their list that they really, really want," Garreau said.

Last year, children each received one gift and a couple of items of clothing.

At some homes, the gifts delivered by the youth project's Santas and elves were the only gifts under the tree, she said.

"It's really a very special process and it's personal," Garreau said. "This is my deal until others can find a better way."

For Hanson, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, doing his job is about more than earning a paycheck. It is about helping people less fortunate.

Need is everywhere on the reservations, he said.

"I didn't really see it until I started this job," Hanson said. Hanson has worked for CRSC for the past three years. He volunteered at the CRSC food pantry before going to work for the organization.

On Dec. 13, Hanson's pickup followed a CRSC truck loaded with more than 400 frozen turkeys, 90 boxes of apples, coats, shoes, blankets, disposable diapers and toys, all destined for Oglala area families.

The box of Hanson's pickup was loaded with food for a family facing a funeral. The shipment included turkeys, potatoes, canned vegetables, a variety of staples and paper goods.

For a family living month-to-month, "death is like an emergency," Hanson said. "Who knows? Someone in your family may have gotten a paycheck, but that's not going to cover everything you need for a funeral."

Hanson said funeral packages are delivered an average of three to four times a week.

But the main purpose of the trip was the Oglala delivery. The food and other items will make a difference for families whose finances are stretched thin at the end of the month, especially with the holidays approaching, Hanson said.

The unemployment rate in Shannon County is estimated at 70 percent, and the average family income is $3,800, according to CRSC.

Life on the reservation is hard, even for people who have a job, Hanson said.

"Just because it's the reservation doesn't make it any cheaper than Rapid City," Hanson said. "You still get bills."

The end of the month is hardest on families because their food stamps are gone and money is always scarce, he said.

That's when the CRSC truck comes.

In the final two weeks before Christmas, Hanson and his co-workers Carrie Burritt and Naomie Folson drove hundreds of miles delivering to communities on Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River.

They also took a load to the food pantry on Standing Rock.

Volunteers at communities on Pine Ridge are in charge of distributing the food.

Working out of a warehouse in Rapid City, Hanson and his staff prepare boxes of supplies for Cheyenne River communities.

Up north, CRSC operates without community coordinators. The CRSC truck stops at each community, and people come to the truck. Occasionally, the truck ventures off the main roads to deliver at individual homes.

When CRSC arrived at the Oglala Recreation Center, Barbara Dull Knife waited with a team of volunteers to help unload the truck.

Dull Knife, volunteer coordinator for her community, is in charge of distributing the CRSC delivery.

Dull Knife's list of families needing help grew after a stop at the local CAP (Commodity Acceptability Progress) office.

Dull Knife and Burritt reviewed the list of people expected to stop in for food.

Hanson said CRSC does not require people to demonstrate a financial need for its help, nor does it restrict its assistance based upon ethnicity or tribal affiliation.

"We help everybody who wants our help," he said. "Everybody falls on hard times now and then."

Although no one receiving help has to prove a need, records are kept to help with inventories.

This year, a nationwide shortage of supplies at food pantries has made it difficult to fill Hanson's shopping list.

"We try to be fair with every community," Hanson said.

Normally, CRSC buys 30 pallets of food a month from Community Food Banks of the Black Hills, but this fall Hanson has been lucky to get three pallets.

That shortage made the Christmas deliveries a little slim.

Hanson said the coats, blankets, shoes and toys would have to compensate for the lack of food and help people stretch their dollars through the holidays.

Asking for help is hard for most people, Hanson said.

"You don't ask for it because it's there," he said. "You must need it if you're going to ask for it."

After the holidays, the work for Hanson and his staff starts all over again. The calls and orders start coming in from food pantries, and they begin preparing for January deliveries.

"The need for food is so great that it always keeps us busy," Hanson said. "As long as the need is there, Christian Relief Services will be there."