A Navajo elder used a brief meeting with President Bush to press for funding for a youth center in Chinle, Arizona.

Marjorie Thomas, 76, was one of four people handpicked to meet Bush when he landed at the Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix last Tuesday night. "The others just shook his hand and welcomed him. When he came to me, I held on," she told The Farmington Daily Times. "I wanted his assistance with the youth center. I wanted him to get funds for us."

A former teacher, Thomas dedicated her adult life to educating Indian children. Every summer for the past 13 years, she has walked more than 65 miles from Chinle to Window Rock to raise money for youth in Chinle.

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Navajo woman makes most of opportunity to meet president (The Farmington Daily Times 10/8)