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Veteran-led group helping veterans on Navajo Nation

Posted at 10:24 AM, Feb 19, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-25 09:02:24-05

A veteran-led non-profit is making sure the Navajo Nation has much-needed supplies.

In March of 2020, a group of veterans came together to create Native American Sustainability for Veterans and Those in Uniform, or NASVU.

They started collecting items and, with the help of MD Helicopters in Mesa, began flying those resources to tribal land.

“We said, what can we do to help out the Native American veterans that are being impacted by this pandemic? So, we got together and reached out to some of our contacts on the Navajo Nation,” said Steve Weintraub with NASVU.

“We took a look at making ventilators and we don’t really have the wherewithal to do that, but we have helicopters. We have a training fleet. We build helicopters, we deliver them to our customers and said, 'You know what we can do? We can fly things in our aircraft,'” said Chris Jarran, the Chief Operations Officer with MD Helicopters.

By truck, the group has sent water tanks to the Navajo Nation along with chainsaws to cut firewood. They’ve also flown PPE, cleaning supplies, and other resources.

On Friday, they made their 26th trip.

To learn more about NASVU, click here.