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10k Masks for the Navajo Nation

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Our Mission

We are raising money to provide essential medical supplies to the Navajo Nation during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Donated funds will go directly towards the purchasing and donation of critically needed N95 masks and surgical masks for medical workers and the territory’s elderly population.


Background

The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American territory in the United States with a population of over 175,000 people. It is also facing a public health disaster. As you read this, the virus is spreading rampant across the territory with one of the highest infection rates in the United States. Without action we are likely to witness a national tragedy take place.
 

Why Help Is Needed

If the Navajo Nation were a state, it would have the highest rate of coronavirus cases per capita after New York. Several factors - including: living conditions, the high prevalence of diseases like diabetes, asthma and cancer, the scarcity of running water, and the chronic underfunding of the Indian Health Service - make the population living within the Navajo Nation particularly vulnerable to the disease.   

Sixty percent of Navajo lack internet access. Thirty percent lack clean water and another thirty percent lack electricity. Before the coronavirus outbreak, the unemployment rate was fifty percent while the poverty rate was thirty eight percent. The situation has only worsened in recent weeks. On top of this, the tribe is facing dire shortages of doctors, ICU beds, ventilators and PPE. 

The takeaway is clear: if the virus continues to spread unchecked, a great number of people will die preventable deaths. 


Why Masks

Increasing evidence links the widespread use of masks to a decrease in the infection rate. A recent study found that if 80% of a closed population were to wear a mask, COVID-19 infection rates would statistically drop to approximately one twelfth the number of infections. Given the systemic issues of widespread poverty, the prevalence of comorbidities, and the lack of access to quality healthcare, we believe that slowing the infection rate is key to saving lives. 


About Us

The 10k Masks organization has sourced and provided over 25,000 N95 masks from China to hospital workers in cities throughout the United States.

Elisha Thornton, a rising senior at the Pierrepont School in Westport, CT, is acting as fundraising coordinator and liaison to the Navajo Nation. Handling sourcing are Jack Dart and Kevin Miles, the founders of 10k Masks, two American professionals with over a decade of experience living and working in China.


Contact Us
Twitter: @Masks4NavajoNtn
Email: [email redacted]
Visit our website: https://10kmasks.org/navajo
Donate

Donations 

  • Kevin Czinger
    • $340 
    • 4 yrs
  • Daniel Halpern
    • $100 
    • 4 yrs
  • Mark Bristow
    • $400 
    • 4 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $20 
    • 4 yrs
  • Darian Rich
    • $300 
    • 4 yrs
Donate

Organizer

Elisha Thornton
Organizer
Westport, CT

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