{"id":4669,"date":"2020-05-10T21:14:29","date_gmt":"2020-05-11T01:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/covid19\/?p=4669"},"modified":"2020-05-10T21:14:29","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T01:14:29","slug":"navajo-division-of-transportation-navajo-nation-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/2020\/05\/10\/navajo-division-of-transportation-navajo-nation-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Navajo Division of Transportation (Navajo Nation)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez loads a food box into a vehicle at a food distribution event in Sawmill, Arizona, on May 5, 2020. Photo courtesy Navajo Division of Transportation<\/p><\/div>\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 8, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

NAVAJO DOT STAFF CONTINUES TO DELIVER FOOD AND WATER TO NAVAJO CHAPTERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

TSE BONITO N.M<\/strong>.-This week, essential staff from the Navajo Division of Transportation delivered water, food and cleaning supplies to chapters across the Navajo Nation in support of the Office of the President and Vice President\u2019s distribution and relief efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy team starts their days before sunrise, loading pallets of water and food into our semi so that these goods can be delivered to chapters in need that continue to shelter in place,\u201d said Garret Silversmith, Executive Director for the Navajo Division of Transportation.<\/p>\n

Silversmith appreciates his staff for contributing to the distribution efforts alongside the OPVP, Navajo Nation Executive Branch Divisions, essential chapter staff and community health representatives. <\/p>\n

The food distribution efforts support the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected the Navajo Nation, the state of Arizona and the United States.<\/p>\n

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said the distributions support Navajo communities that are fighting the pandemic by staying home, staying safe and saving lives.<\/p>\n

The president said this week\u2019s distributions hit the Navajo satellite chapters as well as chapters in the Western, Fort Defiance and Eastern Navajo Agencies.<\/p>\n

The coordination of contributing resources is critical as the efforts target the vast expanse of the Navajo Nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have donations coming in from many sources and areas,\u201d President Nez said. \u201cIn Arizona, we\u2019re lucky to have plenty of fresh fruit and vegetable donations, while in New Mexico we are happy to be coordinating with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for certain resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Navajo DOT Director Garret Silversmith hands a food box to Navajo Division of Natural Resources Director Dr. Rudy Shebala during a distribution in Sawmill, Arizona, on May 5, 2020. Photo courtesy Navajo Division of Transportation<\/p><\/div>\n

As the Navajo Nation heads into another 57-hour curfew on the weekend of May 8-10, President Nez said the response of the Navajo people has been encouraging.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur people are staying home and that\u2019s why there\u2019s a need to provide these resources to them,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re not traveling to the big supermarkets and we\u2019re helping those that are following through on the imposed health orders.\u201d<\/p>\n

During Thursday\u2019s distribution event at Coppermine Chapter, Delegate Paul Begay (Coppermine, K\u2019aibii\u2019to, LeChee, Tonalea\/Red Lake, Bodaway\/Gap) said his constituency is staying home because they are afraid to go out and risk infection.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are afraid to be among other people which causes them to be secluded within their area,\u201d he said. \u201cThis isolation brings the need for food, water and other resources for them to lead their everyday lives. This distribution program has been a real morale booster and it\u2019s helped those living on the outskirts.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s distributions were in the communities and chapters of Chichiltah, Red Rock, Manuelito, B\u00e1\u00e1h\u00e1\u00e1l\u00ed, Crystal, Sawmill, Alamo, Ramah, Bodaway\/Gap, Coppermine, LeChee, Kaibeto, Inscription House, Shonto, Forest Lake, Black Mesa and Hard Rock.<\/p>\n

Director Silversmith joins OPVP in thanking all donators, volunteers, chapter officials and staff, public safety and health care workers, community health representatives and county officials for their direct effort in supporting the distribution events. Navajo DOT also thanks the OPVP, the 24th Navajo Nation Council, and Navajo DOT staff for their continued support.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy staff pushes twelve-hour days to deliver food and water to our people, our relatives,\u201d Silversmith said. \u201cThey get tired but they continue on because they know that they\u2019re positively impacting the Navajo Nation during this pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Essential staff from the Navajo Division of Transportation delivered water, food and cleaning supplies to chapters across the Navajo Nation in support of the Office of the President and Vice President\u2019s distribution and relief efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[12,8,10,302,85],"class_list":["post-4669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-institutions","category-tribes","tag-arizona","tag-navajo","tag-new-mexico","tag-transportation","tag-utah"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4672,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4669\/revisions\/4672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}