Food Run Report - Sanders 5/10/11

by John Aldrich

I've been home from the food runs for almost a week now and am starting to feel as though I'm getting on top of the roughly 3000 images I brought home. So it's time to pick up the blog thread at Sanders, the first in the final week of runs.

Sanders is located in an area of the reservation referred to as the New Lands. It's situated not far off Interstate 40 a bit west of Gallup. New Lands refers to the fact that many Navajos who were involved in the Navajo-Hopi land dispute in the 1980's ended up being relocated here. So many of these people are actually from the Big Mountain and Coal Mine Mesa areas of the reservation.

The group photo at Sanders is my favorite because it's the only one we take where an uncluttered view of the Land serves as the background.

As you can see, we were graced with another beautiful day - a bit cool but not windy.

Ella White was the moving force behind getting ANE to stage a food run in this area, and the run is held on her family's land utilizing a shade house for cover. On our arrival there is always a pot of coffee brewing on a fire outside, and this time, the fire also served for making fry bread.

Sanders is a relatively small food run, so it didn't take long for the box crew to get the Rainbow Food Boxes lined up. Here's a portion of them.

While this photo shows the box crew for the final week of food runs.

The medical committee was reconstituted this week by Lynn Clark, Cindy Devers, and Shelia Borden. Kate Stephens remains the constant.

Inside the shade house Mark Roginske has a chance to meet his new Elder, Sam Danny, while Howard Benally serves as translator.

The shade house is not a large structure which is no doubt why this is a relatively small food run. This view shows most of the interior. The "kitchen" is right behind me.

Ella is seen here receiving her ANE Pendelton blanket - once again donated by Wendy's parents.

In keeping with one of my sub-themes in these blogs, here's another hair style.

And while we're on the subject of attire, how about this for color coordination?

Every group of food run volunteers is unique in one way or another. Whenever younger people are part of the mix, they often become a focus of attention, both by the Elders as well as the other volunteers. This week we were blessed with the presence of two delightful sisters, Emma and Chloe Campbell-Kelsch.

They mixed readily and easily with the local Navajo children their age.

Here, Emma is amused by something during the program portion of the day.

The Sanders food run location is graced by one "facility" which stands out against the background of the Land.

During the final box loading Leroy Arellano, Steve McGeeny, and Luis Pi-Sunyer pause with Mary Badoni.

And Bessie Shepherd waits appreciatively as her boxes are loaded into her car.