07/15/2026
This year, Adopt-A-Native-Elder celebrates 40 years of service.
For 40 years, the heart of Adopt-A-Native-Elder has always been the Elders.
Today, as we celebrate four decades of service, we honor every Elder who has welcomed us onto their land, shared their time, stories, teachings, and traditions; and trusted us to walk alongside them. Their wisdom has shaped our mission, and their resilience and strength continues to inspire our work and our community.
The greatest responsibility we carry is not simply delivering food, firewood, or other essential supplies. It is stewarding forty years of trust—trust built with the Elders, their families, and their communities through respect, consistency, and dedication.
This anniversary belongs to the Navajo Elders who have allowed us to be part of their lives. We are profoundly grateful for the privilege of serving them and learning from them. Their fortitude, generosity, and enduring spirit are the foundation of everything we do.
Thank you for forty years of trust. We remain committed to honoring that trust for generations to come.
One of our greatest resources in planning and preparing for the next forty years of service are the photographs, stories, and memories of where we came from. Featured here are some black and white photographs from the original Food Runs. The Elders in these photos, and many who are not pictured here, are responsible for shaping, building, and guiding the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program into what it is today. Elders like Roberta Blackgoat, Alice Benally, Katherine Smith, Marylou Blackrock, Carol Blackhorse, Mae Tso, Rosaline Jackson, and many others have blessed the program with their wisdom, their trust, and their prayers. Their footprints are a part of everything we do and we honor them and all of the Elders that we have known and loved everyday as we continue to serve.
