ABQ Mennonite Church Helps Pack Food Boxes for Elders in Chinle

By Jeanne Elmhorst  

In late January, two members of Albuquerque Mennonite Church who, until recently, lived and worked in the Navajo Nation in Chinle, AZ, apprised us of a current crucial need. Chinle Planting Hope (CPH), a volunteer non-profit organization, has been working for over four years with community development projects such as a bookmobile, a thrift store and bike shop. 

Since the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, CPH shifted gears to meet a pressing need: food. CPH currently partners with Indian Health Service, Johns Hopkins and Chinle Senior Center to fill their requests for food boxes for the many vulnerable elders. Navajo grandmas and grandpas are safest at home; however, many lack running water and transportation or have extra needs during this time. CPH creates and coordinates the delivery of food boxes to these precious elders and to families who are quarantining to stop the spread of Covid. Since last year, CPH has packed over 1,000 food boxes and since January, averages 200 a month.

Collecting Supplies for Food Boxes

Albuquerque Mennonite Church provides a lift to the supply chain to help ensure that elders and quarantining families can receive food boxes. We assemble donated items that Chinle Planting Hope currently experiences difficulty purchasing in adequate amounts locally such as gallons of water, canned meats, toilet paper, cooking oil, beef stew, chicken soup and Bluebird flour. 

 There is only one (Bashas’) grocery store in Chinle, and in a spirit of community, nobody or no one organization would clear the shelves of an item their neighbors also need, even when purchasing for food boxes. 

During recent lockdowns, stay-at-home directives and curfews, the 1½ to 3-hour drive to get groceries from Gallup or Flagstaff would be difficult at best and stores there also have frequent limits and shortages. So for now, friends and folks from AMC drive food to Gallup weekly to transfer to a Chinle Planting Hope van and on to Chinle. If you’d like to know more or participate please contact Jeanne Elmhorst, jelmhorst1@gmail.com.

 Resources

An insightful article by Chelsea Curtis from The Arizona Republic

Nicholas Kristoff provides background about CPH (The New York Tines, May 2020)

Learn about the R.E.A.D. in Beauty bookmobile

(Jeanne Elmhorst is a member of Albuquerque Mennonite Church. She is also involved with the Interfaith Hunger Coalition and Bread for the World).