Adopt A Native Elder

It may require a lot of time, dedication, and hard work, but lives are being changed for those helping Native Americans at the Utah boarder. It all starts at a small warehouse in Salt Lake City.

On a spring day inside the warehouse, dozens of volunteers could be found loading hundreds of boxes of supplies for a special group of people hundreds of miles away.

"Food boxes, medical boxes, clothing boxes," said volunteer Linda Myers.

The supplies are going to the elderly Navajo people who live on the reservation in the four corners area of Southern Utah.

"They are such beautiful people. We can't wait to hand them out to them," said volunteer Mary Lou Gottschall.

They call it the Adopt a Native Elder Program which has been around for 30 years. Several times a year, dozens of volunteers load the supplies in Salt Lake and start the long nine-hour trek to Navajo Mountain.

2News followed their caravan, which included 15 support vehicles and about 400 boxes of supplies. The drive took them down to Price through Green River and past Moab. Then it's on towards the Four Corners area where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona all meet. Once across the border and into Arizona, the vehicles wind their way back into Utah and arrive at Navajo Mountain.

"It's incredible. Beautiful country," said volunteer Ginny Burns as she looked over the wide open terrain.

The supplies are then sorted for pick up in what they call the "giveaway." On this food run there are about 35 volunteers from Utah, California, Colorado and Arizona. All of them are paying their own travel expenses to give of their time and service.

"It's well worth it," said one volunteer as he unpacked the supplies. "You get a lot of satisfaction from helping out the elders."

This mission will help about 55 Navajo elders and their families who live in very remote and primitive areas where there is no electricity or running water.

"It's a tough economy all over and it's really tough on the reservation," said volunteer Marie Langess.

But this is not a program of just dropping supplies off and then leaving. Volunteers also organize games and other events that allow them to get to know the elders and their families on a very personal level.

"They were just laughing from their heart. It was amazing they don't get TV," said volunteer Kassandra Cheatwood-Adamson with emotion. She says one of the women even brought her a gift, a homemade piece of jewelry. "I started to cry because I was like I'm just riding [in a car] and you spend hours making this, and I gave her a hug,"

Navajo Rose Lactor says she can't thank the volunteers enough for what they are doing.

"There is not a store near or anything," said Lactor. "It really helps and it really eases my worries. I don't really have to worry about anything else. We live way out in isolated area where there is no electricity and no running water and stuff like that."

And that's why the volunteers keep coming back year after year. The friendships they build and the lives they change make it all worthwhile.

"You get to experience a whole other culture. You get to come out here and experience a way of life many aren't familiar with," said CJ Robb who is the assistant director of the program.

"Just seeing their faces and touching their hands is the best part," said Gottschall.

If you would like to help volunteer or learn more about the program go to…. AnElder.org

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