By NB3 Foundation

Helping youth get in the game this Native Nonprofit Day

We are grateful for your continued support of the NB3 Foundation and the youth and communities we serve. Because of you, our programs continue to grow and create meaningful opportunities for Native youth to stay active, build confidence and connect with their peers.

On May 26, we will be participating in Native Nonprofit Day, a day dedicated to uplifting Native-led organizations and raising awareness and support for the work happening in our communities.

Our youth programs are powered by the support of donors and sponsors who believe in this work. Your contribution helps provide access, opportunity and support for every young person in our programs. Every dollar goes toward creating positive, lasting experiences for youth.

As we grow, we are seeing just how powerful smaller gifts can be in meeting real, immediate needs:

  • $7 covers a race entry fee for one of the 120 youth in our track and field program
  • $15 covers healthy snacks
  • $50 supports youth council team building activities
  • $75 provides proper athletic shoes for a young athlete
  • $100 helps cover program fees for a youth to participate in an 8-week sports season

These are the kinds of everyday needs that ensure youth not only have access to programs, but are able to fully participate and thrive.

We invite you to join us in celebrating Native Nonprofit Day by making a gift between now and Tuesday, May 26. Your support helps us continue building healthy futures for Native youth, one step, one season, and one opportunity at a time.

Thank you for being part of this work with us.

Donate today

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By NB3 Foundation

NB3 Foundation donates laptops to help Navajo Nation elementary students continue distance learning amid school closures

 

Andrea Thomas, Diné educator and Navajo Nation Board of Education member, and her 3rd-5th grade students at Mesa Elementary in Shiprock, N.M. have been struggling to continue their lessons remotely amid the closure of schools on the Navajo Nation, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Motivation has not been a barrier for her, her students and their families – all are committed to continuing education during these difficult times. Rather, the lack of technology has been the biggest hurdle facing her students and many more on the Navajo Nation hoping to continue school from home. 

Andrea Thomas delivers a laptop to a student’s home last week.

A majority of Mesa Elementary students come from low income households and do not have access to a computer at home.

Thomas’ students have been completing
their lessons on family member cell phones, or taking screenshots of homework to finish later on paper. Thomas knew that doing full lessons on a cellphone wasn’t an ideal form of learning and would likely overwhelm her students and families quickly. For her students to effectively learn remotely she knew they would need laptops.

Thomas stepped into action and started a fundraiser to purchase 26 laptops for her students.

“There’s something really unique about my group of students,” Thomas said. “I knew that I had to do the best I could to support them.”

Her fundraiser received donations from community members, parents and families but was still a ways from reaching her fundraising goal.

In April, NB3 Foundation President and CEO, Justin Kii Huenemann came across her fundraiser which directly aligns with one of the goals of the NB3 Foundation COVID-19 Response Fund: to provide access to education opportunities and youth development.

The connection was made and through the generosity of the donors to the NB3 Foundation COVID-19 Response Fund, laptops were purchased for all the students in Thomas’ classroom.

When it comes to her students and their futures, Thomas said that when her students reflect on these times she hopes it’s a positive memory of their resilience and perseverance, like their Diné culture.

“On behalf of myself and my students I would like to express our sincere and immense gratitude to the NB3 Foundation for their inspiring generosity. As so many doors seem to be closing, this donation has kept open an invaluable access to continued learning and growth and, just as importantly to one another, to community, and to continuity that will keep our spirits strong, our minds engaged, and our sense of determination unswayed in this time of great challenge. Ahéhee”- Andrea Thomas

 

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