​Please consider helping my NC family and friends in this tragic situation from right where you are. I can personally assure you if you are able to give ANY amount to this GO FUND ME, or our PAY PAL or by personal check, you have my personal promise your money will go directly to families in need.
 
With no power all week, no clean water, no way to flush toilettes and dirty water everywhere, thousands of people are in need of hygiene products, baby items, blankets, food, non-perishables, clothing, shoes, generators, gas and more. Your cash donations help supply these items in addition to helping us serve meals and water, including to our first responders and National Guard. Many have lost everything except each other.
 
Since roads are out, rather than drive the supplies from out of state to the EOC in Lumberton NC, we are sending money to local non-profits we personally know who can purchase the supplies right there and quickly delivery them. Local distribution centers are set up right down the road from my sister’s house.

​FEMA, Red Cross and other non-profits are on the ground helping, there are seven shelters so far, but there cannot be enough help in situations like this. We are working closely with the Red Cross in Lumberton NC and other non-profits located in Robeson County.

We fear the worst is not yet here. The rivers are still rising and the water is not leaving. Thousands of elderly, homeless, destitute and displaced people I know are in need of our combined help. This is far from over.
 
If you would like to be part of the recovery program in Robeson County NC in other ways, please email me at renewhite64@gmail.com or message me on facebook René Locklear White (Feather). Your donation is 100% tax deductible. Pay Pal available at SanctuaryontheTrail.org
 
René Locklear White (Feather)
Lt. Col., USAF (Retired)
President, Sanctuary on the Trail
Lumbee Indian
​Home of Record, Robeson County NC
501(c)3 non-profit 

Berryville, VA - This month's (March 2016) Art in Nature class focused on "Releasing Butterflies" and decorating tobacco boxes. Student ages range from their sixties to nineties.​
​  THE MOST REMARKABLE THING? Several people who have difficulty speaking the simplest words, due to their health conditions, were talking. In fact, one gentleman who saw the butterfly for the first time said, "Would you look at that?"
   Close to 30 residents at the Golden Living Assisted Living glued corn, beans and shiny things onto and into their cigar boxes donated by the ​John B. Hayes Tobacconist on Piccadilly St. in Winchester, Va..
  The air was fresh, right after a light rain. Residents released dozens of butterflies together. Sugar water on carnation flowers helped the butterflies hang around a while before flying off into the garden patio. 
   As always thanks Anne Perrault and Jacob for inviting Rene' Locklear White Sanctuary on the Trail artist to lead the monthly art classes.
   Special thanks to Diann Waddell and Orysia Nasar for volunteering this month. 
   Volunteers interested in helping Rene' in June please contact: renewhite64@gmail.com or call 540-554-8730.

Berryville, VA - Yesterday's (March 9) class focused on "Cubism," the early 20th-century style and movement of art made famous by artists like Picasso. More than 30 residents used pastels to shade geometric shapes and interlocking planes to form birds and butterflies and glitter and marbled construction paper. We ended class by making Easter baskets and playing a short drum circle.
     Our granddaughter Valley Dawn, an inspiring 9- year old artist wore her bunny ears and helped administer the class. Our two friends Sarah and Julie drove several hours to help volunteer and entertain with drum.
     A special thank you to Golden Living Assisted Living Anne Perrault and Jacob for hiring our church president Rene' White to teach monthly art to your residents. We look forward to each class each month. 
     We look forward to working with residents and staff to offer a special Art Show in July. More details to follow later. A sampling of the residents work is seen in the photos here.
    THANK YOU!!!! June Krupsaw for volunteering to attend and take photos.
     Volunteers interested in helping Rene' contact: renewhite64@gmail.com. 

Berryville VA – Thirty senior citizens most in wheel chairs with brushes immersed in paint, decorated their Valentine hearts and 9” x 12” mixed media paper with lavender, topaz, rose, lime and turquoise paints, then glued down affirmations, shiny stones and faux feathers – “their love letters to the world.” Seven students from Clarke County High School helped.
  
The biggest surprises in February? Half of the class is men over 70 years old, 17 students showed up early, more arrived throughout the 2-hour class eager to participate.  
 
This class is fondly called, “My Love Letters to the World," and includes elements from Native American culture.
 
In partnership with Anne Perrault activities director Golden LivingCenter - Rose Hill in Berryville, I initiated this art therapy program after watching my own mother, my aunts in Berryville and Stephens City and friends struggle with aging dementia, paralysis, cancer and quality of life. I love watching them see the beauty in things like simple beads, swimming fish and flying butterflies. Still they find comfort and peace with Art in Nature.
 
I use everything I have, including my understanding of nature and Native American crafts to teach and entertain these remarkable elders. The goal is simple, to help improve their quality of life. My biggest wish?  I wish I had started sooner, so I could have loved this longer.
 
Our elderly still have a voice and are able to declare their words and feelings through colors, shapes and shiny things. Activities like this give them a tool to tap into a different part of their brain to access their voices through art and music and to speak to you. Art therapy also helps give life back to our elders and imparts empathy, understanding and gratitude onto caregivers.
 
Volunteers are needed to help with monthly classes. During our Mar. 9 class we combine Native American Indian medicine wheel, agriculture and nature. I could use help planning and funding April, May and June classes.
 
Each month, residents receive 60 participation points in the form of corn, beans and squash seed for showing up. In Native American Indian culture we call this seed-trio, the “Three Sisters.”
 
Corn, beans and squash provided an unwavering dietary foundation to indigenous people for 10,000 years, ironically now these seed serve as a replacement for money for our elderly who have little extra money to spend and fewer opportunities to go shopping. My mother’s living center uses “lima beans” for activity points.
 
But this is more than a fun art class. It is about honor.

In Native American culture, our elders are central to our family and old age is honored and celebrated.
 
Different cultures have similar values.
 
When I was stationed at military bases in the South Korea, Koreans have a fundamental value that dictates that one must respect one's parents and this respect, along with a sense of community, is the “root of humanity.” The Chinese hold this as the “highest virtue.” And in India, elders support the younger ones.

The Lakota Indians have a sacred saying, “Mitákuye Oyás'iŋ,” about being related. These words are often used at the end of a sacred prayer or ceremony and are so protected very few people actually know its significance. I will not attempt to explain the full meaning of “Mitákuye Oyás'iŋ” for fear I may misuse or dilute its true meaning. But the point is, as humans we are all related.
 
The Bible book of Leviticus 19:32 says, “Stand up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.”
 
In the military it is about, “esprit de corps” or “Band of Brothers.” We face dangerous circumstances together. We spill blood and struggle with life and death together. We are tied together by more than comradeship and a determination that comes from being together and seeing it through together.  
 
Seeing your loved ones grow old; being with them when they die; you growing old; someone being there for you when you pass over, these are shared struggles. Growing old and death is a natural rhythm of life.

At some point in the United States it has become socially acceptable to place our parents in retirement facilities. My mother moved to one by choice. Being in a retirement home is not a dishonor.
 
We honor our elders by visiting assisted living facilities and volunteering. If we avoid them, we are missing an important part of their life and our own life.
 
Let us not fear aging nor avoid those who do. If we fear aging, it keeps us from living full lives. Maybe we should call it esprit de life – a rite of passage. May we all share in it.

HELPERS NEEDED. 
 
Volunteers and donors are needed to help our elders declare their artistic independence. Artists and musicians are needed to help use art and music therapy to enhance the quality of life for our elderly patients with Alzheimer’s, dementia and other diseases. Seeking artists and non-artists, musicians, boy scouts, girl scouts, young adults to help assist with:

• Preparing for a unique art auction around the 4th of July celebrations
• Planning future classes for March, April, May and June
• Planning and holding a special graduation ceremony in July for senior citizens participating in the art therapy program
  
• Planning and holding “Three Sister Traders Post” for residents to trade their “Three Sisters” seed for little specials like air fresheners, socks and gift bags
• Contributing donations to stock the Traders Post and purchase supplies.  
  

 
Together we can reduce suffering helping our elders enjoy this amazing chapter of their lives with dignity and delight.
 
The next art therapy class for this session is scheduled for all Golden LivingCenter – Rose Hill Virginia residents on March 9. Volunteers interested in helping René or donating to the July Trading Post please contact her at 540-554-8730 or renewhite64@gmail.com or visit www.SanctuaryontheTrail.org.

Saved local senior citizens more than $30,000 for through volunteer efforts with the Medicare Cafe'.

We help elders choose drug and health plans that are cheaper; helping them put more money into their pockets.

      Our goal with The Native American Church of Virgina is to help leaders first, especially elders. If you or someone you know is 60 years and older, special adult learner programs are offered in your community. Contact the state college or university nearest you for details.
     Many state colleges and universities now offer special adult learner programs which allow older individuals to return to the classroom and earn a degree. These programs may give older persons some college credits based upon their life and work experiences.
     They also offer special counseling and support services to assist and encourage the older student.
     Older citizens may register for and enroll in courses in any state institution of higher education (subject to the admission requirements of the institution) as a full-time or part-time student for academic credit if their federal taxable income does not exceed $15,000 per year.  

 In Virginia
     Virginians age 60 and older, regardless of income, may register for and audit courses in any Virginia institution of higher education. Students may have to pay for course materials and laboratory fees.
     The State Council of HIgher Edcuation for Virginia (SCHEV) offers a listing of state colleges and universities. For more information, contact the admissions office of the Virginia college or university nearest you.
    Section §23-38.56 of the Code of Virginia (also known as the Senior Citizens Higher Education Act) states that Virginians age 60 and older may take college courses without paying tuition.
     The State Council of Higher Eduction (SCHEV) has details of the Senior Citizen Tuition Waiver.

Local Groups Help Residents Understand Medicare vs. Medicaid

By Merris Badcock
Senior Virginia Bureau Reporter WHAG-TV • NBC25 • Your4State

Native American Church elder Rene' White (Feather) completed her re-certification test with a passing score of 84% today, making this her second year as a certified-volunteer Virginia Insurance Counseling and Assistance Program (VICAP) counselor through the Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging (SAAA). Rene' founded the Medicare Cafe concept and helps people who need help with Medicare.