Americans for Native Americans

What a joy to help encourage the students at Mariano Lake Community School with the necessary supplies the teachers requested so the students could all enter the Annual Youth Art Show in Gallup, NM! Look at the wonderfully proud smiles on the faces of these talented 2nd graders! Congratulations on your awesome art work! #ANA #Charity #Non-profit

For the Spring Semester, ANA awarded 10 scholarships for nursing students in the University of New Mexico-Gallup Nursing Department, and 3 scholarships for those who graduated and were ready to take their NCLEX licensure test. We are delighted to introduce you to Talia Begay ... Talia received her third ANA scholarship this semester, taking and passing her NCLEX and now she is an RN!!! Talia wrote: Dear Americans for Native Americans Donors, As a recipient of the ANA Scholarship for the Spring 2025 semester, I want to thank you immensely for this scholarship! Your efforts and contribution to Native American communities are exemplary and make long lasting impacts. I can happily say that I completed nursing school and received my ADN. I am now currently working towards my BSN and will complete it by the end of this year. More importantly, I am a registered nurse! I successfully passed my board and I am happy that I can give back to my Navajo community. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity and for your organization as you help both the community and its nursing students. By investing in the University of New Mexico-Gallup and students like me, you helped create future nurses. I wish you and your organization continued success and all the very best! Thank you! With gratitude, Talia Begay Congratulations, Talia!!! And a heart-felt thank you to all those who donate to make these scholarships possible! https://bit.ly/DonateANA

For the past year, ANA has partnered with The Kwek Society to make moon time bags (almost 5,000!) and Auntie bags for school-age young women to use during their moon time. The Kwek Society just sent us a report with the value of what ANA donated in 2024 - $23,835!! Many, many thanks to all those who have helped with this project ... from stitching, donating fabric, donating money to purchase the pads, and stuffing the moon time bags ... you are helping many young women feel loved. If you would like to participate in this project, the directions are on ANA’s website: https://bit.ly/ANA-GI For questions, please email: [email protected]

In December, the staff at Indian Health Services (IHS) in Zuni emailed, “We recently had a patient come in who had a fetal demise and asked if we had anything to put the fetus in who had passed. She was pretty early on but arrived with the fetus in a plastic container in a brown bag. We don't need much but it would be nice to have something on hand for these situations.” While this was a very sad request indeed, we were so glad we had a connection to Tiny Angel Designs and Margy Torres. Margy and her team make beautiful angel gowns for these situations out of used wedding gowns. Margy stitched a number of outfits in a variety of sizes (some shown below) and shipped them to Zuni. The staff at IHS was incredibly grateful and so are we. #ANA #nonprofit #angelgowns

Congratulations are definitely in order for Chambreigh Kaye! We first met Chambreigh when she was an undergrad nursing student at UNM-Gallup in 2018. It has been a joy to watch Chambreigh, now a mom of two daughters, and all she has accomplished since then culminating in just receiving her BSN!! Cambreigh wrote, "I have completed my BSN degree within one year of starting and thanks to ANA, I was able to do this without any student loans. I wanted to send a photo from my graduation. I completed this degree graduating summa cum laude. Thank you for all your help." Congratulations, Chambreigh!!!

As the new year begins, we are so grateful for all the incredible ways our supporters helped with our work last year: shoppers; book buyers;; moon time bag, auntie bag, blanket, hat, scarf, and glove makers; mission trippers; health screeners; vet clinic volunteers; committee and Board members; Garden Party auction donors; incredibly generous donors; and a myriad of other ways our supporters are involved ... our most heart-felt THANK YOU! If you would like to join our efforts in the New Year, please email [email protected]

As the new year begins, we are so grateful for all the incredible ways our supporters helped with our work last year: shoppers; book buyers;; moon time bag, auntie bag, blanket, hat, scarf, and glove makers; mission trippers; health screeners; vet clinic volunteers; committee and Board members; Garden Party auction donors; incredibly generous donors; and a myriad of other ways our supporters are involved ... our most heart-felt THANK YOU! If you would like to join our efforts in the New Year, please email [email protected] #non-profit #charity

We are very grateful to Nejad Galleries of Doylestown, owned by Ali and Teresa Nejad, who announced its continued support of ANA. The Nejads, passionate about improving access to healthcare and healthcare?education, have generously donated $5,000 to support ANA’s scholarship program for Native American nursing students. These scholarships will help fund both undergraduate and graduate-level training, empowering the next generation of Native American healthcare professionals. “We believe in the power of education to create positive change,” said Ali Nejad. “By supporting these aspiring nurses, we hope to inspire them to serve their communities and address the unique healthcare needs of Native American populations.” Ali added “ANA is doing incredible work, and we are honored to be a part of their mission. By investing in the education of Native American nurses, we are investing in the future of healthcare for Indigenous communities.” As a world recognized rug designer, rug manufacturer and rug importer, Nejad Galleries, located in the historic and cultural hub of Doylestown, has become one of the most trusted names in Oriental rugs today. For over four decades Nejad Galleries has been the premier source for the finest quality new and antique rugs from all of the world's major rug weaving centers - featuring an incredible inventory of beautiful high quality handmade rugs. ?With a focus on quality, innovation, and community engagement, Nejad Galleries of Doylestown has become a destination in the industry. Thank you Ali and Theresa Nejad! Pictured: Ali Nejad presenting their $5,000 check to Jim Kmetzo, ANA's Finance Chair (center) and Allen Childs, ANA's Board Vice-Chair (right).

Consider giving a gift that gives twice this holiday season. Check out the wonderful hand-made ornaments, quilts, and pillowcases on ANA’s Etsy site: https://bit.ly/ANAEtsy 100% of all sales (less postage) go to benefit our programs. A great gift for co-workers or employees ... if you would like to buy the ornaments in quantity, we'd be happy to work on pricing with you.

Words can't express our gratitude to all of ANA's incredibly generous donors! Each year, ANA's main budget item addresses feeding hungry children through the Food for Kids (FFK) program. At our annual Garden Party, we ask guests to support this program with pledges. This year The Community Pantry, where the program is administered, asked if we could increase Food for Kids to $148,400 so they could feed another 100 children, totaling 1,050 children, during the coming year. They requested $10,000 for Kids Café ... their after school snack program ... and asked for a raise in their manpower grant to $20,000. Last year we gave the Pantry funding to hire a staff person to assure that all the FFK bags could be filled each week. They hired Gloria for the task. Thanks to our awesome donors, ANA was able fulfill the Pantry's requests for a total of $178,400! While some of the Board members were working in the Pantry in Gallup, NM, at the end of September, they were able to present the check to Gloria (holding the check on the left) and Hilda Kendall, the Pantry's Chief Operating Officer (on the right). THANK YOU!!!!! #ANA #charity #non-profit