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The insidious impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is as unavoidable as it is seemingly unending.
It’s there in the faces of fatigued health-care workers, in the stories of families who couldn’t be with their loved ones during their final days and in the growing number of people who wonder if and when another paycheck will arrive.
Sometimes it’s in a voice.
Notah Begay was on a recent conference call with some of his Golf Channel colleagues who were sharing their thoughts on the revised PGA Tour schedule when he was asked about coronavirus relief efforts he is leading for the Navajo Nation through his NB3 Foundation (www.nb3foundation.org).
The Native American population is being ravaged like few other groups in this country. Begay is seeing it and feeling it even as he is fighting it. While New York City and other cities have drawn the focus as national hot spots, Native Americans are being crushed by the virus.
According to various reports, the Native American population has had more virus-related deaths than 13 states combined. In New Mexico, which has a population of approximately 2 million, the number of deaths within the 125,000 Native Americans there is almost equal to the rest of the state.
As he tried to answer the question about his efforts, Begay had to stop talking for a moment to gather himself. He apologized for being so emotional.
“It’s a scary thing for me,” Begay said on the call. “It’s been a scary process. I’m going to lose some family members. I’m quite certain of that and I just don’t know who it’s going to be. And so what we are trying to do at the foundation is kind of adhere to our mission, adhere to what we stand for which is community health and wellness.”
The Native American population is being ravaged like few other groups in this country. Begay is seeing it and feeling it even as he is fighting it.
A few days later, Begay was no less emotional.
“It’s family,” he said. “When we think about family at our extended family gatherings, first cousins and aunts and uncle, you see them at birthday parties and at Christmas.
“That’s who’s being impacted. It’s my family.”
The Navajo Nation, of which Begay is a member, covers approximately 27,000 square miles, roughly the size of West Virginia. Much of it is rural and poor, lacking internet access and in need of basic necessities such as food and water. Begay’s foundation has put together 300 large food boxes and 4,000 gallons of water to be delivered to the Navajo Nation, the first of what he hopes will be many deliveries.
Begay, 47, is half Navajo, one quarter San Felipe and one quarter Isleta, and when not on the road for Golf Channel and NBC Sports he lives in Albuquerque, N.M. A four-time winner on the PGA Tour, he also was an All-American at Stanford where he was teammate of Tiger Woods.
“When people see me as a professional golfer and having graduated from Stanford, and representing the United States on the Walker Cup and Presidents Cup teams and now as a television analyst, you don’t see reservation Indian but that’s what I am,” Begay said. “I grew up on these reservations and two of the hardest hit communities, the Navajo Nation and San Felipe Pueblo, are where I grew up.
“I know we haven’t seen the worst of what is happening in these communities. I have family there who are sick.”
Justin Leonard was on the call when Begay choked up talking about what his people are facing.
“Notah is on the ground there,” Leonard said. “I know he’s concerned about his family but there’s also a greater concern for people that don’t have the technology that so many others are fortunate to have.
“The emotion in his voice about what’s going on and things he’s trying to do to help, that’s the person Notah is. He cares.”
When Begay started his foundation in 2005, the mission was to use golf and soccer, among other things, to promote healthy lifestyles. Seeing the critical need in the midst of the pandemic, Begay pivoted to providing what he can while being quarantined at his Albuquerque home.
Through social media and a network of connections, Begay has developed distribution plans and worked with people on the front lines to bring what can be provided to the people in need. It’s a world away from watching a PGA Tour event from inside the ropes.
“Invariably people across the country will slip through the cracks,” Begay said. “It’s mostly poor people."
“Whether it’s not getting a stimulus check or being 101st in line when there is only food for 100, we want to be the organization that maintains a close connection with families and individuals suffering through this. This is not what we got into nonprofit biz to do but it’s our responsibility. Not just ours but everyone who has means to some sort of resource.”
As he talks about what he’s doing, the emotion in Begay’s voice is filled with conviction. This is not for him. It’s for the people he knows and the people he loves. It’s for the people who can’t always help themselves.
“He’s got a voice,” Leonard said, “and he’s using it as a beautiful voice.”
To donate to the Notah Begay III Foundation's COVID-19 Response Fund, click here or visit www.NB3Foundation.org
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