I am excited to run approximately 17 miles (1/12 of the distance) from Mt. Hood to the Pacific coast, as part of a 30+ hour Hood to Coast relay race! (https://hoodtocoast.com/htc-ptc/)

More importantly, I'm honored to be running again for charity: water!

Access to clean water, and the freedom that results from it, must become a universal human right. On average, it takes just a $40 donation to charity: water for a person to gain *permanent* access to safe and accessible water! The charity: water team truly changes lives infinitely for the better.

Hood to Coast takes place on August 25th, and I am already looking forward to my 2 AM run through the mountains! And it truly adds meaning to an already fun event to be supporting such a fantastic mission.

The funds from this campaign will be put to work building new community wells in Bangladesh through a local partner Helvetas!

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and faces both water access and water quality challenges.

Bangladesh ranks 129 out of 191 ranked countries on the 2022 Human Development Index, and 13.5% of the population is living below the income poverty line. It is prone to flooding during the monsoon season and droughts during the dry season.

KEY FACTS ABOUT CLEAN WATER CRISIS:
- 771 million people on the planet 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

- Diseases from dirty water kill more people every year than all
forms of violence, including wars

- Around 297,000 children under five die every year from diseases caused by inadequate water and sanitation.

- 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.

- Every $1 invested in clean water creates $4.30/£3.53 in economic return. How? With clean water, families can finally afford to expand their crops and herds to fund the needs of their growing families. Women have the time and agency to turn their passions into thriving small businesses. Communities with clean water are also more likely to become hubs of economic development, with clean water triggering access to electricity or paved roads.

- Simply put: clean water changes everything! It can improve health, boost local economies, empower women, and enable girls to attend school.

- It costs just $40 on average to bring clean water to one person and $10,000 to fund a water project for an entire community. To break it down even further, every $1 donated funds 290 gallons/1,100 liters of clean water. That’s enough water to supply one family with clean water for 12.5 days! (Truly, every dollar makes a huge difference)