When Aniyah was two years old, she heard a story about people around the world who don’t have clean drinking water. It was hard for her to understand how this was possible. But it wasn’t hard for her to imagine a way to help.
“We need to share, since we have clean water and they don’t!” she declared. And then she started painting. That was almost two years ago.
Since then, with a little help from the fine folks at Scout & Co and The Doughnut Dilemma in Burlington, Vermont (who donated wall space for her art), Aniyah has sold enough paintings to bring clean water to 103 people in need!
103! Four years of life, and she’s already changed the lives of more than 100 other people. It’s just an incredible story. And we couldn’t be more grateful.
Aniyah, you’re a beautiful young soul! Thank you for inspiring us to do what we love, give what we’ve got, and make the world a better place. We wish you a lifetime full of impact.
Campaigns We Love is a weekly series that highlights the amazing, creative, bold and generous things that our supporters do to raise money and bring clean water to people in need. It’s fondly written by our Supporter Experience team.
Waltz-dancer, business man, clean water enthusiast — all of these describe Harry Turner, who is turning 78 this year and pledging his birthday to clean water to celebrate.
If he reaches his $7,800 goal, this Palo Alto gentleman will dance 78 consecutive rotary waltz turns with his dance instructor — which is no easy feat! The challenge in consecutive turns is maintaining balance and graceful form. They can be rapid or moderate, all according to the tempo.
Harry has already raised more than $2,400 — which will bring clean and safe water to at least 80 people. Quite impressive.
Thank you for celebrating your birthday with us, Harry! We look forward to seeing you bust a move.
Ava is a long-time charity: water supporter and an awesome 15-year-old that I have the privilege of hosting at our office every year. She makes an annual trip down to NYC to drop off all of the money she’s collected from the year before.
This year, she brought her Tzedakah box — which held all her donations. Ava mentioned that this is a box you receive at your bat mitzvah and that it represents charity.
Some wikipedia-ing showed that in Hebrew, the word means “justice” or “righteousness,” and yes, is commonly used to signify charity.
Ava, you are such a pure example of all of those things. It’s been awesome seeing your passion grow year after year — I almost feel like we’re growing up with you. Thank you for your commitment to clean water, and I can’t wait to see you next year!
Two years ago, I started working with an incredible charity: water supporter named Siobhan and her husband, Terry, on an epic fundraising campaign for Nepal.
Siobhan was setting out to climb Mt. Everest and she wanted to change the lives of people in Nepal while doing it.
I worked with the couple for months, and every email they sent inspired me more than the last. All told, they raised more than $107,000 for clean water projects in Nepal. That is a rare and incredible feat. But now, I’ve come to realize, that’s typical for these two.
In April of 2013, Siobhan started her journey to summit Mt. Everest.
She made it to Basecamp and then noticed swelling in her right arm. She saw an on-site doctor, who recommended she head home. The news was heartbreaking. She’d trained for months and flown thousands of miles, only to be told to turn back.
Disappointed, she boarded a plane back to San Francisco. But during her layover in Hong Kong, she changed her mind. She decided to turn around and give it another go.
Siobhan flew back to Kathmandu, trekked back to Everest, and made it to an elevation of about 24,500 feet. Yet so close to her goal, due to High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (which can be deadly), she had to turn back again.
Still, this amazing woman didn’t head home and say, “Well, at least I tried.” Instead, she promised she would go back another year.
Right now, Siobhan is running another clean water campaign. This one is called “Everest Again.”
Yes, Siobhan is back on Mt. Everest. This time, she was prepared. She was ready to crush that mountain, climb her heart out, and stand atop the world. But in 40 seconds last Saturday, everything changed.
On April 25, when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, it shook the world’s highest peak. Siobhan was on Mt. Everest at the time, climbing a ladder at the Khumbu Icefall. Thankfully, she was uninjured and managed to reach Camp 1 along with four other climbers. But the quake triggered avalanches, cutting Basecamp off from the higher parts of the peak.
For two and a half days, Siobhan and her fellow climbers remained stranded.
On Monday, she finally made it back to Basecamp. By Friday, she’d been taken safely to Kathmandu. Soon, she’ll be heading back to the States.
This isn’t a story about standing on top of the world. This is a story about changing the world.
Siobhan might not be summiting Mt. Everest this year, but I know this won’t be the end of her story.
Even through everything that’s happened since the earthquake, Siobhan has raised more than $20,000 for clean water this year.
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Siobhan’s husband, Terry, all week. Throughout uncertainty and fear, he’s kept me and the charity: water team in the loop, as we waited anxiously for Siobhan reach safety. It’s something I will forever be grateful for.
No matter what Siobhan’s future holds, here at charity: water, we’ll be watching. Her hard work and dedication has brought clean water to hundred of people. Her fundraising efforts have changed hundreds of lives.
charity: water supporters are incredible.
They’re the reason I get up in the morning and skip to work. They’re the reason I believe that one person has the power to change the world. They make me a better person.
At times, they even put their lives on the line, because they believe the same thing we do: They believe every person on the planet should have clean and safe drinking water, and that the craziest thing we can do to help is nothing.
Nicki Nelson knew she wanted her 59th birthday to be different. She knew that instead of asking for gifts, she could invite her friends and family to help her raise $5,900 for clean water. But she also knew that it wasn’t going to be easy.
In an effort to inspire people to donate to her birthday campaign, Nicki made a statement by skiing the longest trail on her Lone Mountain Ranch in Big Sky, Montana (six kilometers!) with a full Jerry Can on her back!
(For those of you that don’t know… that’s 40 pounds! No easy task.)
And she didn’t stop there. With two weeks left in her campaign, Nicki was short of her goal. So she hunkered down, sent emails to everyone she knew, shared her progress, offered her time as a massage therapist and even gave away a quilt.
In those final two weeks, she raised more than $4,000… exceeding her incredible goal.
It’s such an inspiring story and a testament to commitment. Thank you, Nicki, for your dedication to bringing clean water to those in need!
A couple of months ago I met Finn Harries, one half of JacksGap. Like us, he and his brother believe in the power of a story. They’ve used their platform to talk about important issues like belief, fear and love. They’ve traveled the world and told stories about amazing places and amazing people. These guys have lived more in their 22 years than I will my entire life… and what’s truly incredible is that they live for others.
This year Finn and Jack decided to forget the gifts and asked people to donate their age in dollars instead. Today is their actual birthday, and they’ve already raised enough money to bring clean water to more than 200 people. That’s right, two 22-year-olds have changed the lives of 200 people (what?!).
Their campaign is proof that nothing is too small. 96 of their 122 donors have given $22 or less. Everything makes a difference.
I’m a HUGE JacksGap fan because they believe in the good of humanity. They believe in the power of people, the power of a story and that they can (and will) change the world.
Happy birthday to the two dudes I wish I was like at 22.
When you chat with Savannah (even if it’s solely via email), you can’t help but feel drawn to her spark and fiery spirit for our mission. It should come as no surprise that this isn’t her first charity: water campaign.
When we talked about her strategy this time around, she shared some insights from her prior fundraising. Two years ago, when she gave up 22nd birthday, Savannah realized the single most important thing was to thank her donors — and to thank them profusely. Without their generosity, the work wasn’t possible.
Coupled with her mom’s tradition of sending everyone thank you notes, Savannah was inspired to illustrate three lessons she learned in her 23rd year and lay them over photos she took on a recent trip. She then printed them into beautiful custom postcards to write heartfelt notes for each donation made to her campaign.
Savannah mentioned to me that a birthday campaign is “the easiest way to open people’s eyes to the world around them, including the water crisis… and be a part of something much greater than themselves.” I couldn’t agree more.
We’ve already received a handful of postcards at our office, and you can get yours too. Go be part of something greater than yourself and donate to Savannah’s 24th birthday campaign!
11-year-old Herbie is my favorite violinist, and he’s about to become yours too.
I met Herbie after receiving a phone call from his mom who asked to visit our office so that Herbie could drop off a bag of donations. And that he did. He walked in with his blue violin case, a ziploc bag of $1,041, and the sweetest smile. We quickly toured the space and walked over to our accounting team to ensure the donations would be applied to his campaign page. He’s now raised a total of $2,658 since 2011, which will serve communities in Rwanda, Ethiopia and many more to come!
His fundraising tactic? Wooing the city of New York with his violin in front of the Apple Store.
I asked Herbie why he decided to fundraise through all these years, and he told me that there was no way he couldn’t do something about it after learning about the water crisis. I then went on to ask him who his favorite composer is, and without hesitation, he said, “Bach!”
Herbie, we cherish your beautiful spirit! We can’t wait to see where your generosity and talents take you.
Rebecca Grant was listening to Scott Harrison tell the charity: water story on her favorite podcast, Entreleadership, when she heard the devastating story of Letikiros (the 13-year-old Ethiopian girl who took her own life after accidentally shattering the clay pot she had spent hours walking to fill with water).
Having a young daughter herself, Rebecca was inspired to give up her 39th birthday for clean water.
She started by charting all of the ways her family uses clean water — from teeth brushing to morning coffee — and shared it on Facebook. Then the donations came rolling in.
But Rebecca still couldn’t shake the image of Letikiros walking for so long, carrying such a heavy load. So she decided to up the ante and carry one of her own.
Whenever someone asked her about the Jerry Can, she handed them a card with a link to her campaign.
She was featured in her town newspaper, she’s spoken at schools, and now, she’s raised $10,840 with 106 donations.
Rebecca, you’re amazing! Thank you so much your commitment to this mission!
Campaigns We Love is a weekly series that highlights the amazing, creative, bold and generous things that our supporters do to raise money and bring clean water to people in need. It’s fondly written by our Supporter Experience team.
This past weekend, an incredible group of students from Alpha Kappa Psi at Miami University (in Ohio!) hosted their own version of The Amazing Race in support of charity: water. And they crushed it!
They put together a campus-wide event where teams of four could sign up to race throughout campus and compete in challenges — and rallied a massive student community on behalf of a community on the other side of the globe.
According to Mickey, VP of Philanthropy of Alpha Kappa Psi, the fraternity registered more runners (128 racers signed up) than any pledge project before them. And judging by the promo video below, I would imagine they also had a ton of fun.
In the end, Alpha Kappa Psi raised more than $1,700 for clean water. Which is amazing. Thank you for all your hard work and creativity! We can’t wait to share with you the impact you’ve made.
Brothers of Alpha Kappa Psi fraternity hosted their second annual charity: ball this past weekend to help raise money for clean water!
The night was filled with performances, silent auctions, an art gallery, and more. And it brought together over 600 supporters who smiled, laughed, and cheered together as they celebrated bringing clean water to hundreds of people around the world.
“The best feeling in the world is being able to spread cheer and happiness, and knowing that this can be achieved by helping others,” said David Ha, one of the hosts of Cal Poly’s charity: ball.
David first heard about charity: water from a friend who organized Cal Poly’s first charity: ball two years ago. After seeing how passionate his friend was about charity: water’s mission, David began reading our stories and was particularly struck by Letikiro, a 13-year-old Ethiopian girl who took her own life after accidentally dropping the water she had spent hours walking for that day.
“I felt confused, angry, and sad,” he said. “I was confused because I couldn’t comprehend how someone as young as Letikiro held such a big burden. I was angry because it was something that was totally preventable. And I was sad because there are so many people that don’t know her story. But the amazing thing is this can all change.”
David realized that everyone has the potential to change lives and even one person can make a huge difference. After he saw how much of an impact their first charity: ball had, he decided to take the project into his own hands and start a campaign to spread the charity: water story as far and wide as he could.
“I wanted to spread awareness to as many people as possible, educate them about our water crisis, and reward each and every one of our supporters with a night dedicated to them to remind them just how big of a difference their contribution made to the hundreds of lives that they will change in the future,” he said.
To get their community involved with the campaign, the hosts of the Cal Poly charity: ball started releasing videos of themselves spreading positive acts around their community and found that many of their supporters started to submit videos of their own. They also recruited over 16 project leaders from various schools to create inspirational art pieces to help spread awareness about the event.
“In my 3 months of campaigning, I felt that time has passed by in only a few weeks because I really enjoyed doing this,” he said. “You will realize that when you get involved with something you love doing, you will end up with a bunch of people who will want to help and support you. Nothing feels better than being able to spread positivity and enjoy doing what you love at the same time.”
Way to go Cal Poly; you all are amazing. Thank you so much for your support and for continuing to be an inspiration to the entire charity: water family!