COVID-19 relief team fills thousands of food boxes daily for families on the Navajo Nation

FORT DEFIANCE — Cardboard boxes fill half the gym floor at the Bee Hółdzil Fighting Scouts Events Center as volunteers prep an assembly line to fill thousands of food boxes being sent across the Navajo Nation.

Volunteers set up their stations along the hallway of the loading dock with fresh produce on one side and dried goods on the other as a conveyer belt is set up between them. As soon as the first box comes down the line, volunteers pick up their goods and get to work.

Over 30 volunteers worked together to fill food boxes as part of the World Central Kitchen COVID-19 relief team. WCK is a disaster relief organization founded by Chef José Andrés that uses the power of food to heal communities and strengthen economies in times of crisis and beyond, according to the group's website.

"We do at least 4,000 boxes a day," said Ollie Arviso, World Central Kitchen's project manager on the Navajo Nation.

Two filled boxes make up one meal kit able to feed a family of four for at least a week. One box is dry products like rice, beans and flour. The other is fresh produce like cabbage, carrots and chili peppers

"The whole point is for them to stay home," Arviso said. All the items put into the boxes were selected by chefs based on what would best support a family.

Arviso said WCK packs the boxes, but doesn't hand them out to the families. The group provides the meal kits to any entity that requests them, like senior centers, chapter houses or social service organizations. 

"It's been pretty much word of mouth," Arviso said about how the group distributes food boxes. WCK will work with organizations to figure out how many meal kits they'll need. Once that is determined, Arviso said they'll load up a truck and send the boxes out to the organization.

"They're excited and anxious to see us because when you look inside these boxes, it's amazing," he said.

WCK set up its relief efforts on the Navajo Nation in May. The team has filled and provided thousands of food boxes for families across the Navajo Nation, where as of Aug. 12, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases was 9,356, with 477 deaths. 

"I think it's very rewarding that people are getting what they need in a time of crisis," WCK volunteer September Halona said.

Arviso has been with the effort since it started. He was originally one of the truck drivers but moved into the project manager role shortly after. 

"I'm everything about what they're doing here," Arviso said. When COVID-19 hit, he was at home and wanted to help, but with no medical background he didn't know what he could do.

"I felt like I was just helpless and then this opportunity came up," he said.

WCK may not deliver the meal kits on their "final mile" to the families, Arviso said, but the people who work for the group know what they're doing is important.

"We're not there delivering the food to people but seeing and hearing it from the people who do, they really appreciate what we're doing," said WCK Volunteer Kevin Johnson. "It is my way of helping and it's a good way of helping."

WCK worked with the Window Rock School District to get its operation established at the Bee Hółdzil Fighting Scouts Events Center in Fort Defiance.

Window Rock High School Athletic Director Ryan Dodson said when WCK reached out about utilizing the event center, he knew it was a great opportunity for the school district to help in some capacity after seeing the toll COVID-19 was having on the community.

"That to me was the biggest motivation," Dodson said. "Our goal here in the district is to serve students and without students coming to school every day it refocused our energy and purpose to helping the community and helping the reservation."

'Rainbow Boxes' for Navajo students

Arviso and his team also fill "Rainbow Boxes" as part of the Children of the Nááts'íilid project established by musician Jewel and apparel brand Orenda Tribe in partnership with WCK. These boxes have been sent out weekly to Navajo youth since July and contain food, personal protective equipment and other supplies.

Amy Yeung, founder and creator of Orenda Tribe, said the project started in response to the impact COVID-19 has had on the Navajo Nation. As a Navajo woman, she wanted to focus on delivering critical aid to the Navajo Nation, whether it was PPE supplies or efforts to work on food insecurity.

"We knew every year in July our children face food insecurity because there's a gap month between the end of summer school and the beginning of fall season," Yeung said, and with COVID-19 they thought there would be a higher need this year.

Yeung collaborated with Jewel to host a virtual benefit concert called the "Voices Of Siihasin" in early July to fund the Children of the Nááts'íilid project.

"We see our children as sacred, little bright lights that go out in the world. And no one had really focused on them during the pandemic," Yeung said.

A lot of relief efforts across the Navajo Nation have been geared toward families or elders impacted by COVID-19, but there hasn't been one specifically for kids.

"They're affected just as much as the adults and the families here on the Navajo reservation," Arviso said.

The boxes are provided to school districts and schools across the Navajo Nation, Arviso said. 

"I like this endeavor only because regardless of if you're a charter school, a public school, or private school, you are serving kids," Dodson said. "The bottom line is that kids are getting fed and they're getting an opportunity to eat and have some of that food available to them."

On Aug. 10, some 937 Rainbow Boxes were sent to Chinle, 500 to Ganado High School, over 2,000 to Navajo Head Start, 653 to Crownpoint, 650 to Tuba City, and 3,761 for Fort Defiance. In all, 34,211 Rainbow Boxes have been sent out as of Aug. 12.

"It was a labor of love and something to honor our children. They're the future generation of our tribe," Yeung said.

The project started in July and will run until mid-August.

For more information about World Central Kitchens COVID-19 relief efforts, visit its website at www.wck.org.

Reporter Shondiin Silversmith covers Indigenous people and communities in Arizona. Reach her at ssilversmi@arizonarepublic.com and follow her Twitter @DiinSilversmith.

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