Race for clean water
Water is something we take for granted here in the US - so much so that we pay for it when we can get it for free. Instead of buying bottled water we should be focused on cutting down our own consumption and using that money instead to bring clean drinking water to nations that have for too long been taking dirty, bacteria-laden water home for cooking, drinking and cleaning because no other option exists.
Thankfully, someone is doing something about it in a big way. Charity:water founder Scott Harrison began the September campaign last year to encourage people to give much needed funds to his new non-profit rather than give him gifts on his birthday. This year, the stakes have been raised. Hundreds of people are asking the same thing of their friends and relatives. Over $800,000 has been raised - but the work isn't done!
In the spirit of friendly competition, Scott is trying to out-fundraise seven-year-old Max Schmidhauser...and he's losing terribly. Scott said he'd raise 10 times the money Max could or record a public video concession (for YouTube) admitting defeat and declaring Max "The greatest. My hero." Looks like Scott might need to start working on that video.
Unless you want to help him, that is! To donate to Scott's September Campaign, click here. Have a soft spot for Max? Help him by donating here. Either way, the money goes to building more wells in Ethiopia. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.
"Water is something we take for granted here in the US - so much so that we pay for it when we can get it for free"
Well, not only do we take clean water for granted, we take chlorine for granted. It's one of the few developments that virtually wiped out all kinds of diseases. It's pretty scary that only 100 years ago we didn't have it. Imagine if typhoid were still a problem today
posted by faustasglenn on 9/26/2008 6:02 pm