Through charity : water, I've committed to raising money for AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY to have access to clean water... Yes, I did. What does that mean? It means that it's going to take my entire community to make this happen! 

I've been looking forward to running this marathon for years. For those who've been to the finish line you know that it's one of the most beautiful moments to behold in NYC. It's like pure magic as the crowds in Central Park cheer and celebrate the thousands of athletes as they cross the finish line of a race that started 26.2 miles away, all the way in Staten Island, and touched every borough of NYC!

But despite my anticipation, this is going to be hard. The training alone is overwhelming, not to mention the actual race day experience of jogging for 3-4 hours through the 5 boroughs of NYC. While I had thought that the challenge alone was enough to motivate me, I've found that doing it for a good cause is profoundly more energizing. 

To date, charity: water has funded clean water for more than 16.8 million people in 29 countries alongside 54 local partners. This is huge. But there are still 771 million people on the planet who don’t have access to clean and safe drinking water. That’s nearly 1 in 10 people worldwide. Or, twice the population of the United States.

Another mind blowing statistic is that every day women and girls lose 200 million hours walking for water — time much better spent attending school, earning an income, parenting, resting, or building invaluable social capital. The water crisis disproportionately affects women and girls. In 80% of households where water is off-premises, women and girls are responsible for water collection.

The last stat that I'll share is that, tragically, around 297,000 children under five die every year from diseases caused by inadequate water and sanitation. Together, by providing water for a community, we can take another step forward toward making this statistic a sad piece of history, one that future generations can be proud that we overcame.

I would be honored to invite you to JOIN MY RACE by supporting the worthy goal of $10,000 to cover the costs of a new project for a community that currently is experiencing the life and death challenges of not having access to clean water. 

It costs just $40 on average to bring clean water to one person and roughly $240 to bring fresh water to a family of 6.

Thank you!

Best,
Ben