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For our New Mexico and our Arizona, the majority of these items we requested from Americares, we are going to be providing to the Navajo Nation. Obviously, they have medical teams that are going up to provide support to the hospital in that area. So, the face shields, we’re going to provide those to the medical staff.
We saw a kind of shift. Because what was happening was individuals were being laid off of work, they were being furloughed, they were losing their jobs. So, people were starting to lose their financial stability. And so, then we started to see an increase – obviously, just their basic needs were not being met.
Of course, families who are financially stable can go up and grab two, three items, but families who are not, who don’t have that support of financial stability, they aren’t able to buy two items or three items. It’s either a roll of toilet paper or milk. So, if we can provide them with the toilet paper and milk, then maybe they can pay their utility bill.
Some of these families need to make a decision, and you kind of get emotional at that part … They have to decide what they’re going to do when they have a family of four or five kids at home. When you know you’re providing hope, and we can provide hope through our donors like Americares, who is able to provide that item, then we can come alongside those families and provide something else. When you sit to think about it, we’re just blessed to be in the position to help.
Jeannette AirdEDS Director The Salvation Army Southwest Division