Woman fundraising to get Navajo Nation hand washing stations to battle COVID-19

The Navajo Nation has been one of the hardest hit areas in the country with the coronavirus, but one valley woman is doing what she can to make conditions a little safer.

NAVAJO NATION - The Navajo Nation has been one of the hardest hit areas in the country with the coronavirus, but one valley woman is doing what she can to make conditions a little safer.

It's the basic necessity to fight COVID-19: running water. But many natives in Navajo Nation don't have it.

"In this pandemic, one of the main ways to fight the spread of the virus it is to make sure you wash your hands for 20 seconds as recommended by the CDC. So I figured if there isn’t that basic ability to hand wash their hands, there needs to be a way to get that to the native people because they need the tools to be able to wash their hands," said Yolanda Tso.

She is a full-blooded Navajo who grew up on the reservation, so she decided to take matters into her own hands.

"I’ve been purchasing hand wash stations, buckets to collect the used water, hand sanitizer, reusable hands towels," she said.

Tso's donation page has already been able to raise more than $5,000 of the $55,000 goal. But, she says that isn't enough.

Each set costs about $110 each, which includes hand soap and towels.

"I did the math. An estimated 40% of the residents in the Navajo Nation do not have running water based off of a four-person household structure. That means about 17,500 people do not have running water water on the Navajo Nation," Tso explained.

If you'd like to donate to help Tso provide hand washing stations for the Navajo Nation, visit https://www.facebook.com/yolanda.reay1