Meet Our Heroes - Featured Fundraisers

This June, North Way Christian Community, a church in Wexford, Pennsylvania, hosted their annual  summer camp, Kidz GIG.   The objective of the week-long camp was to teach kids about the importance of service. The result: kids modeling true service to the entire church.

Kidz GIG, accepted an ambitious challenge. Inspired by the Water Project (www.thewaterproject.org), 330 kids and close to 200 leaders, agreed to drink only water for 5 days and collect the savings to build a well in Africa. We set a considerable goal of $6,000, enough to build a complete well, and believed that God was going to accomplish this through the hearts of our children.

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Toronto 5K Run

We want to send out a HUGE thank you to Catalina Urtoi who organized a 5K Run on May 20th in Toronto, Canada to benefit The Water Project.  Together they raised $1,000 to help fund a well.

5k runs are an especially powerful way to show support as so often, moms and children walk upwards of the same distance every day, just to find water in developing communities.

Thanks to the Toronto runners, one community in Africa will no longer have to!

PSNC President and COO Rusty Harris presents $50,000 donation to Peter Chasse of The Water Project, Inc.

GASTONIA, N.C., (May 3, 2010) – In response to the earthquake damage in Haiti, PSNC Energy has donated $50,000 to The Water Project, Inc. in support of the non-profit’s efforts to coordinate repair of water wells in Haiti.

PSNC Energy President and COO Rusty Harris presented the $50,000 check to Peter Chasse, The Water Project’s president and founder, on April 28 at the company’s monthly business review meeting.

“We’re so thankful to have neighbors as generous as PSNC Energy,” said Chasse. “Their commitment to help us restore water wells in Haiti will do a great good.  This single donation will enable our partners to repair as many as 20 wells, restoring clean, safe drinking water to tens of thousands of Haitians.”

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We love getting notes and pictures from schools and groups raising money for The Water Project. After all,  this is a shared story – from raising funds to building wells to seeing the outcome. Together, your community, ours and the one’s we serve are working together to make a real difference.  So…don’t forget to send your stories too!

3rd Graders at Congregation Kol Ami in Flower Mound, Texas raised $130.88 from Tzdekah at Sunday School.

Tzdekah is a Jewish term.  It is a collection of money that is donated to a good cause.  Our 3rd graders had a choice of about five different places to contribute to at the beginning of the school year.  They voted for The Water Project.

– Maryanne Katz

We just got this great note from Brennen Elementary School who jumped in with both feet again this year to help build a well in Kenya.  We’re so thankful for committed teams like Brennen.  Without them, we couldn’t do any of this.  Their students gave up snacks, lunch money, allowance, even a tooth, so they could give it away and help give clean, safe water.

Here’s what Janet and Susan wrote about their most recent “Water Challenge”:

We had a great time.  We held our Water Project in conjunction with Earth Day this year.  We were one of the stations that the children rotated to.  Usually the PTO buys Popsicles for all the children at Earth day, but again this year the children  all AGREED to forgo the small treat and have tap water. At our station they had water and put the money their class had collected into the “well” that we made.  The PTO then graciously agreed to write the check instead to the Water Project.  They gave us $200.00.  In that way EVERY child at the school participated in giving up something for the well.

We also put a “bank” one of the children made at the lunch counter.  Two days a week the children are allowed to buy cookies or ice cream in addition to their lunch.  Many of them chose to put their money in the box and forgo the treat.  Others, put the change they received.  We had one child who on the last day was excited to put in his “tooth fairy money”.  I asked him if he had pulled the tooth so he could get the money.  He said. “no, my friend had kicked it out while we were wrestling!”  :)  We had several groups of friends make lemonade stands and water stands in their neighborhoods.  This was their idea.  I’ve attached a pic of 2 first  graders that one of the parents sent.  Several families were very supportive and all gave up everything except tap water for the duration of the project.  We had several children empty their piggy banks.  They loved our Water Project T-shirts.  Susan (other sponsoring teacher) and I wore them every day!!  We told them  we were saving water on laundry!!  :)  We have one child who is  saving his allowance for several weeks so he can get one!

Incredibly, the featured article in the 5th grade “Weekly Reader” for Fri. Apr. 23 (day we collected the money) was “Water Woes” and stated many of the same facts that I shared with the children to explain the project. It had several pics of children carrying water….and explained the magnitude of the problem.  We used it to reinforce what we had told the children.

I’m sure you hear these kinds of “stories” every day but we wanted you to know that you are not only helping children without clean water, you are also helping to educate the minds and hearts of our children who are blessed with much.

Thank you for the bracelets. The children like them a lot.  You are wonderful to work with.  Hopefully, we’ll be allowed to do this next year too!!

The children are looking forward to SEEING where they help to build a well!!  Me  too!!

- Jan Scott and Susan Jordan

Originally published at http://www.caymannetnews.com/news-20941–1-1—.html

Grade 2 children at Grace Christian Academy learned the lesson of compassion and world service recently with a project they undertook to aid African children.

“After researching using our school’s new Smart board,” said Lauren Sommerville , Grade 2 teacher, “we found a charity called ‘The Water Project’ (www.TheWaterProject.org). This charity provides schools and other organizations with fundraiser packs to raise money to help provide safe, clean water to African children.” The students drank only water for two weeks, giving up all sodas and other beverages, in order to donate the proceeds of the money they saved to help build a water well in Africa.

The students were compelled to reach out to other children after studying Africa in class, particularly those countries where many of the children do not have clean water to drink, such as Chad, Kenya and Nigeria. The Grade 2 class raised a grand total of US$156.74.

“It is such a great achievement,” said Ms Sommerville, “for our class to have raised money for The Water Project.”

Huenu Solsona

You could call it the real survivor without the glitz of Hollywood.

On 1 April 2010, nine people from all over the world and I, will be boarding a boat and heading to a deserted island in South East Asia.  There are no behind-the-scenes camera crews or the chance to win rewards or having to vote someone out.

What we are doing however, is trying to raise money for charity… I have personally chosen The Water Project, a charity that provides potable, drinking water to areas in Africa and other parts of the world where it is most needed. For years, this was my father’s job and I have seen what his work has done to help thousands of people who previously died from water born diseases or had to travel many kilometers every day just to get enough water to live. Still today, more than half the world’s population fetches their water – all you and I do is turn on the tap.

For our 30 day adventure, we will each have a 5 litre bag with essential tools such as knives, lighters and torches, but not much can fit in these bags and we will have no external help whatsoever. With these contents and whatever we can find on the island, we will have to survive for a full month in complete isolation in what will undoubtedly be the endurance test of a lifetime.

We will have to feed off the land and the sea and learn to live with nothing more than nature has provided, away from society and the comforts we are used to. We will experience starvation, sleep deprivation, extreme heat and humidity, wild animals and insects and above all, we’ll have to interact and survive with nine strangers, all with our own opinions and habits.

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