(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Northeast Arizona Native Democrats Provide Essential Aid to Navajo and Hopi Families [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-16 Organizer Casey Lee delivering aid in Kayenta, AZ ICYMI, I’m reposting my colleague Missa Foy’s story and ask. Thank you for your support. ----------— Initially published 4.13.23 Community service is at the heart of what we do. Since 2019, the Northeast Arizona Native Democrats have been providing essential aid and our field team has been helping out their neighbors long before we officially launched our mutual aid and community service programs. DONATE TODAY TO HELP ARIZONA SECURE DEMOCRATIC WINS IN 2024! This winter brought our work sharply into focus. Like the rest of the country, northeast Arizona experienced extreme storms and frigid temperatures. Every week in February and much of March, a new storm came through dropping anywhere between 4” to 12” of snow. Our rural tribal communities had to dig their own way out because it can be a long wait for services like graders and plows to clear some of the roughest roads in Arizona. Residents are used to the challenges of rural life, but the intensity of this winter added to the efforts required to get essentials between storms. Power failures and loss of communication services also added to the challenges. Hopi community member with donated coal and propane bottles. This is where we came in. We’re used to working in this territory. Our team is in a unique position to help and have the ability to reach vulnerable community members in remote places. We launched a national, non-political GoFundme, putting aside our political work to help our neighbors. Over the course of a week we raised and distributed just over $13,000 in supplies to the Navajo Nation and Hopi. Thanks to the generosity of supporters like you, here is how we made an impact: Loren Marshall, Navajo Nation, our director of campaigns and engagement, lives on the Navajo Nation in the remote community of White Clay, at an altitude of 7,000 feet, where the winter weather hit the hardest. Impassable roads stranded community members at chapter houses or on the side of the road. Loren knew exactly how to help. Loren created 50 roadside emergency kits providing community members with food, water, flashlights, and emergency blankets. She also provided home heating coal and firewood to those who needed it. Casey Lee, Navajo Nation, who has been with Northeast Arizona Native Democrats since day one, got straight to work in Kayenta and the surrounding communities. Casey provided feed to animal owners who were unable to get to the store. He helped offset his elderly neighbors’ added heating expense by helping nálís (grandmas and grandpas) purchase groceries and gas for their vehicles. He also provided them with propane bottles which are used to run small room heaters. Central heating is not as common or available in his area. And just like Loren, he distributed firewood to make sure everyone stayed warm. Lorraine Coin, Hopi Tribe, has been serving the villages of Bacavi and Hotevilla for years and when extreme weather conditions hit, she immediately went to work and coordinated delivery of supplies with partner organizers and recruited her family and other community members to split wood and distribute coal and firewood to elders and those most in need. Her team delivered nearly 150 bags of coal, dozens of Personal Protective Equipment, food, and propane canisters. All of these supplies offset the burden of folks who had no transportation and could not access items, or just needed a little boost because of financial hardship. When we launched Northeast Arizona Native Democrats we wanted to do more and serving our communities has become a critical component of our engagement work. This means working in remote and rural Arizona more frequently and requires more than dropping in right before an election to ask for votes. Our team puts in the work every day and we do not disappear right after an election. We stick around. It’s our home. Organizing efforts need to be embedded in the community and values driven. Not candidate driven. Volunteer splitting firewood in Kayenta, AZ Our team early on understood that one of the best ways to reach communities, expand the electorate, and win elections is by living our values and making sure people feel a part of our mission and vision. It’s important for us they feel seen, heard, and supported. Our team is giving back and is actively making the positive changes they want to see. Through the support of grassroots contributors from across the country we’ve led one of the most successful organizing programs in Arizona. Our work is building an electorate that can once again send a Democrat to the White House, elect a second Democrat to represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate, and secure county and other key seats in 2024. Thank you to everyone who donated to our February GoFundMe. As spring arrives, the sun is shining and our team is back in the field talking to voters and planning a number of community events We are ready organize! We re-launched voter registration efforts for this year, are working to engage young voters, and our Family Votes Matriarchs are gathering in May. We have two paid organizers on the ground. To meet the needs of the expansive geography this summer, we need to hire two more organizers to provide continuous political education and outreach across sovereign lands in northeast Arizona. Please make a donation today to support our program https://secure.actblue.com/donate/nativeorgkos or consider becoming a recurring monthly donor. Checks may also be mailed to: Navajo County Democrats PO Box 144, Lakeside, AZ 85929. Checks should be made out to Navajo County Democrats Our team relies on individual donors like you to get work done on sovereign lands. Thank you so much! Missa Foy Chair, Navajo County Democrats Program Director, Northeast Arizona Native Democrats nativevote[at]neaznativedemocrats.org [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/16/2164215/-Northeast-Arizona-Native-Democrats-Provide-Essential-Aid-to-Navajo-and-Hopi-Families Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/