Navajo Nation Food Distribution Program Receives New Delivery Trucks

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Navajo Nation Food Distribution Program employees
at the Equipment and Fleet Maintenance Shop in Church Rock, N.M. on March 4, 2019

Published March 5, 2019

CHURCH ROCK, N.M. – On Monday, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez presented the keys to four new delivery trucks to the Navajo Nation Food Distribution Program, which is a program that provides USDA foods to low-income households including many Navajo elderly people residing on the Navajo Nation. According to Program Manager Claudeen Tallwood, over 8,000 Navajo families receive assistance through the program each month.

Tallwood and several other employees were at the Equipment and Fleet Maintenance Shop in Church Rock to greet the President and offer their appreciation for his support of a grant application that enabled the program to receive approximately $847,000 through the USDA, which was used to purchase the four new trucks.

“We are very thankful to President Nez for helping us with the application when he was Vice President and we are happy to have four new delivery vehicles as a result,” said Tallwood.

The four new delivery trucks will join a fleet of existing vehicles used to transport food from six warehouses located on the Navajo Nation to chapter houses, where low-income families receive the food products. The warehouses are located in the communities of Fort Defiance, Teecnospos, Crownpoint, Leupp, Mexican Springs, and Kirtland.

President Jonathan Nez hands the keys to a new delivery truck to employees with the Navajo Nation Food Distribution Program in Church Rock, N.M. on March 4, 2019.

“As a kid, I remember eating commodity cheese and many of the other food products that we received through the Food Distribution Program. To this day, the program continues to help many of our families across the Nation,” stated President Nez. “I congratulate the program’s employees and I thank them for their hard work.”

Maintenance workers said some of the program’s vehicles and equipment have been in use since the 1970’s, which require the program to spend a large portion of their funds for maintenance and repairs to keep the equipment in operation. Tallwood said she continues looking into other grants through the USDA that might provide additional benefits and assistance to Navajo families and to their program.

“We don’t always hear about the good work that our Navajo people are doing, so it’s great to know that this particular program is benefitting thousands of our people. The Nez-Lizer Administration is dedicated to supporting these types of programs and their employees,” added President Nez.