San Juan College still seeking donations for Navajo Nation amid COVID-19 crisis

Donation drive will continue on campus through May 16

Farmington Daily Times

FARMINGTON — A donation drive seeking household goods, groceries and pet food for people on the Navajo Nation who have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 shutdown got underway May 8 on the San Juan College campus and will continue the rest of this week.

Drive organizer Danielle Sullivan, an associate professor of English at the college, was joined by a handful of volunteers who loaded the supplies into the school's semi-trailer after they were removed from the vehicles of donors who drove them to the drop-off site between the West Classroom Complex and the Henderson Fine Arts Center.

The drive got underway at 3 p.m. May 8, and Sullivan said there were a couple of cars already waiting for volunteers when they arrived at the site. By 4 p.m. that day, approximately a dozen drivers had stopped by donate nonperishable food items, toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water and pet food.

Shirley Hoskie, the operations coordinator for the San Juan College physical plant, prepares to unload a trunkful of goods May 8 on the college campus during a donation drive for people on the Navajo Nation struggling from the COVID-19 shutdown.

"I'm pleasantly surprised," Sullivan said about the response from donors.

The drive will continue for the next several days. Donors may drop the items off at the following times:

3 p.m. to 6 p.m. May 11 through 14
1 to 4 p.m. May 15
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 16

The supplies will be delivered to the Navajo Nation on May 18.

Those wishing to make a monetary donation can do so online by visiting www.nndoh.org/donate.html.

Volunteer Ethan Sullivan hands a bag of goods to his mother, San Juan College English professor Danielle Sullivan, on May 8 during a donation drive for people on the Navajo Nation who need help during the COVID-19 shutdown.

The donations are tax deductible, and donors who want one will have their contact information recorded so they can receive a receipt at a later date from the Navajo Nation.

The drop-off point for the drive is designed to be contactless, with volunteers wearing gloves and masks removing the donated items from the back of a donor's vehicle while the donor remains in the vehicle.

Volunteers working on the drive on May 8 quickly were piling up the donated goods in the front of the semi-trailer, but they had a long way to go to fill it. Sullivan issued a plea to those who plan to make a donation later in the week.

Volunteers Laura Darrow, left, and Shirley Hoskie, both employees of the San Juan College physical plant, post a sign May 8 on the college campus alerting drivers of the drop-off site for donations for Navajo Nation people affected by the COVID-19 shutdown.

"We appreciate delivery in boxes, but we'll take it however we can get it," she said.

Anyone searching for more information about the drive can call TheWantToHelpLine at 505-566-4210.

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com.