Supporting Native American communities during COVID-19 is critical as they face an uphill battle against the outbreak. That is the motivation behind the little (Twitter) birdie that inspired Random Acts Regional Representative and Junior Writer Samara Cogan to offer help.
Supporting At-Risk Communities
Overall, Native American communities face disproportionate challenges when responding to the COVID-19 outbreak. Historic housing, economic, and federal inequalities may allow the virus to spread faster among this population than among the general population. The likelihood of rapid spread is especially worrying for those that are otherwise at-risk due to age or other factors.
Therefore, Samara wanted to make a difference and began following a #NativeTwitter thread. The original tweeter encouraged indigenous persons to post links to their Amazon Wish Lists. Individuals could then donate these purchases directly to those in need.
Using this tweet, Samara connected with a young woman asking for help for her 90-year-old grandmother living with diabetes and respiratory issues.
“Since she lives downtown, she’s practically my neighbor,” said Samara. “It feels good to do something when I’ve been feeling helpless in the face of this pandemic.”
As a result, Samara was able to make the recommended purchases of tinned corned beef, maple cookies, smoked salmon, and a bag of rice. These items will be brought directly to the grandmother’s doorstep. By not having to leave home, she is kept safer from the impacts of COVID-19.
Many Kinds of Kindness
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers suggestions such as:
- Clean your hands often
- Maintain social distancing
- Wear protective face masks
- Clean and disinfect common surfaces often
- Stay home as often as possible
At Random Acts, we understand it is easy to feel defeated when the best advice is to stay home. This is especially true when not everyone has the same privileges to remain at home full-time. Every act of kindness is helping to flatten the curve and slow the spread of COVID-19.
Please consider directing organizations supporting Native American communities to our Random Acts Support Network to apply for funding and support resources.
Additionally, if you know of organizations making a difference in your community, you can nominate them here as part of The Random Acts Support Program for COVID-19 aid.
