After a series of unfortunate events, Jasmine Pickner-Bell and her husband Luke Bell were stranded in the area. The couple made the trip to teach local schools more about their culture through singing, drumming and their Hoop dance.
The couple didn’t know what to do and tried performing on the street, but couldn’t earn enough money to pay for the gas and tires their car would need to make it home. Through the help of a local Native American stranger, the couple discovered that Longmont was Sister Cities with the Northern Arapaho at the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, which the couple calls home.
Longmont Sister Cities has been working with Pickner-Bell and Bell to find opportunities for the couple to earn money to make it home.
“We are strong believers in being part of society and giving back and doing everything we can to be self-sustaining. Part of how we survive is through sharing our gifts of life and what the creator has given us,” Pickner-Bell told the Leader. “It is important to us to be able to say this is what we can offer, this is what we do and this is how we give back. We have that way of life.”
Carrie Adams, program director of the Silver Creek Leadership Academy, learned that the couple wanted to share their culture with others. She saw an opportunity to help others while also teaching the community more about another culture.
On April 15 at 5 p.m., SCLA will host Pickner-Bell and Bell in the school’s main gym. The doors will open at 4:45 p.m.
The event is a fundraiser to help the couple get home to their five children and extended family. Tickets are required.
