Posted by Jim Bissonett
One of the newest Rotary Foundation programs is called Disaster Response Grants.  It’s purpose isto provide immediate aid and relief from natural and man made disasters.  The grant award is $25,000 from The Rotary Foundation (TRF), and it does not require club cash or DDF. 
 
Our District Rotary Foundation Committee (DRFC) first submitted an application in April 2020 to provide immediate clean water relief for the Navajo Nation due to the serious Covid-19 outbreak.  Our application was turned down as TRF was out of funds.  Those funds were replenished in June and our application was approved on July 7, 2020. 
 
More than a third of Navajo do not have running water in their homes, making hand-washing and sanitation a costly and especially difficult situation with Covid.    The $25,000 Disaster Grant will purchase 200 gallon water tanks at a cost of $330 to Navajo homes that have no running water or access to running water.  Tanks will be filled by water trucks from nearby chapters.  This grant will benefit 75 Navajo families.   The cooperation organization that will deliver and install these tanks is DigDeep, a non-profit company that seeks to provide water solutions to the Navajo.    For more information about this project, please contact our DRFC Navajo Water Team.