Bryson and Andrew are working to raise money for myWaterProject!  The boy’s goal is build two wells for a community.

They are planning to read all that he can in the month of Feb.  Together they have set a goal to read 1000 pages. They are looking for people that will sponsor them at a penny a page for this effort.

Here’s what Bryson has to say…

“I don’t want other kids to suffer because I am a child and I get all the water I want… I want every kid to be able to get the water they want too. It makes me feel happy to think I could help other kids be happy and get water to live. I hope all of you will help me in the water project to bring clean water to kids and adults everywhere.”

You can follow their blog at http://brysonandandrew.wordpress.com/

Not sure how to raise money to help fund a well?  Here’s an idea…

This past fall, Hannah and her friends decided to raise money in their North Carolina neighborhood by doing yard work and donating the profits to The Water Project. Hannah and four of her friends raked and bagged leaves for their neighbors.

With just a few simple tasks, they were able to raise over $1,000 to help fund a well! And so not only did they help their neighbors with their leaves, they are now helping their global neighbors find clean, safe drinking water. Their creativity and hard work will make a real difference in many lives. Soon, a community in Sierra Leone will have a newly repaired well.

You can follow the progress of that project here at http://thewaterproject.org/community/projects/sierra-leone/full-wash-for-a-school-in-sierra-leone-567/

Can video games change lives? The twelve teens who took part in a recent “Game-a-thon” to raise money for The Water Project sure think so.

On November 19-20, 2010, the group from the DC area played video games nonstop for 12 hours to raise money for our Wells for India program.

The teens collected donations and “per hour of play” pledges leading up to the event. At the end of the night, they had raised $1700 toward a new water project. Organizer Shannyn (mom of one of the participants) described the night, “We had a leader board on the wall and a fundraiser ‘thermometer’” on the wall tracking the donations. When we hit our ‘goal,’ the kids were shouting and screaming and cheering. It was really awesome.”

Thanks to these teens, a thirsty community will soon be enjoying clean, safe water!

You can see what they accomplished here: http://thewaterproject.org/community/profile/shannyn-snyder

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