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From left to right: Caroline
Purtill, Alex Goldstein, Sierra Goldstein Ben Richardson snd
Max Goldstein in front of one of their supply hauls. (photo
by Max Goldstein)
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In three weeks, a friend group of teenagers in Phoenix raised over
$11,000 for supplies to donate to the Navajo Nation.
17-year-olds Ben Richardson and Max Goldstein, 16-year-olds Caroline
Purtill and Alex Goldstein and 13-year-old Sierra Goldstein all
spent a couple of full days at stores, loading up six or seven cars
with supplies.
"We were in quarantine and we didn't have a lot to do," Max Goldstein
said. "We wanted to help out our community in Arizona."
After hearing about the Navajo Nation's high rate of COVID-19 infection,
they felt concerned and inspired to help in whatever way they could.
They started the fundraiser by writing a letter and emailing it to
friends and family, addressing the issue and asking for donations.
They also contacted the Navajo Nation to find out what supplies are
needed and how they can be distributed.
"Right when we sent out the letter, I was really surprised because
a lot of people started emailing us, dropping off checks and donations"
Alex Goldstein said.
They received donations from $5 to $1,000 and suddenly the amount
they received "became almost overwhelming," said Susan Purtill,
Caroline Purtill's mother.
"I'm just really proud of them," Susan Purtill said. "For kids
being at home this has been I don't want to be overly dramatic
but it's been tough."
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Supplies from non-perishable
food items to bottles of shampoo and conditioner that the
friend group has collected to donate. (photo by Max Goldstein)
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1,000 masks, 8 hours on a Costco run
Sierra Goldstein said when they first started going to Costco and
Walmart to buy the supplies, they got "some dirty looks" because
people assumed they were hoarding shopping carts full food and cleaning
supplies.
The friend group said they had to get a letter from the Navajo
Nation attorney general to let the stores know that they were donating
the items in order to buy some materials in bulk like hand sanitizer
and bleach.
"It's definitely been a lot of work, Caroline Purtill said. "We
spent over eight hours at Costco just getting stuff and bringing
it to the house in just one day"
Alex Goldstein added that they enjoyed throwing in some fun items
that they thought might brighten up someone's day like chips or
fruit snacks.
In addition to cleaning supplies, diapers, baby formula, dog food,
and nonperishable food, they were able to compile about 1,000 masks.
Over 550 medical-grade masks were donated by churches and some hand-made
masks were sewn by a friend.
Plans to drive U-Haul of supplies to Window Rock
On Thursday they will be loading an entire U-Haul with the supplies
they bought and on Friday they will drive to Window Rock to drop
off the supplies at a food distribution center.
They said if they have enough leftover money, they hope to fund
an entire tanker truck full of water to send to the Navajo Nation,
instead of buying more plastic water bottles.
They said their social media helped boost their project to the
next level. They created a Twitter, which is @FundNavajo, that spreads
awareness about their GoFundMe, named Navajo Supply Project. They
also opened up a new bank account just for the Venmo, Navajo Nation
Supply Project.
Sierra Goldstein said her favorite part of the experience was when
one of the parents' moms sewed 100 masks for them to donate.
"It felt so great to see someone who cares just as much as us about
this," Sierra Goldstein said.
Alex Goldstein said she thinks her favorite part will be dropping
off the supplies and "seeing everyone's faces and showing them that
we really care."
"I think that when you hear these big numbers you don't really
imagine individual persons, but I think it's important for people
to remember that it's not just a statistic and that these are actually
individual lives," Sierra Goldstein said
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