Donors dug deep

19 Navajo families to get water and solar power

WINDOW ROCK

Nineteen Diné families will get running water after a non-profit organization generated around $40,000 from 350 national donations in a single day.

DigDeep, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, raised enough money for clean drinking water, water systems, and solar power for families in a few Navajo communities that either have no clean water or no running water at all.

“We collected around $43,964.54 in one day for our Super Tuesday event,” said George McGraw, founder of DigDeep, who added all the donations cover project costs and labor.

A matching grant from the Tortuga Foundation, which seeks out environmental and social projects to help fund, doubled that.

DigDeep specializes in bringing in clean drinking water to those in need.

According to its website, in 2015 the non-profit raised and spent more than $484,000 — 88 percent of which went to water access and water education programs.

DigDeep started with a goal of providing 75 Diné families with running water.

With the recent donations from Super Tuesday, 19 families will get running water, making a total of 34 families since the drive began. Since then, enough has been donated to add aother family.

The families will receive clean water, a 1,200-gallon water tank and a water pump; DigDeep will also help the families install sinks, bathtubs, and wells if they don’t have access or don’t know how to install them.

According to DigDeep, Diné people are 67 times more likely not to have running water or a toilet compared to the national average. Lack of running water can be responsible for increased illness, fatigue, and poor hygiene.

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