Ryan and his dog, “Dayo” – a lean, long-legged, Anatolian Shepherd – loved to play “fetch the ball.” Ryan would chuck the ball as far as he could, sending Dayo off at a fever pitch to retrieve the ball and joyfully bring it back to Ryan for another round.
When they returned home, I remember the sound of Dayo heartily slopping up the entire contents of a huge bowl of cool, clear water to quench his thirst after an afternoon of vigorous play. I remember thinking to myself, “Wow! In this country even a dog has fresh, clear, uncontaminated water to drink; but tens of thousands of human beings around the world don’t have that luxury.”
Every day, 5,000 kids die from water-related illnesses before they reach their fifth birthday. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are simple solutions like drilled wells, spring protections and BioSand filters that help provide clean water to communities around the world.
We started this fundraising campaign to help charity: water build these types of projects around the world, and we need your help. Please donate to our campaign – anything you can give is a huge help. 100% of the money will be used to build clean water projects, and when they’re complete charity: water will send us photos and GPS coordinates so we can see the exact community we helped.
Our generous donations will help keep Ryan’s memory alive. The well will be labeled and dedicated to Ryan in honor of his life, his love for this world and all those who inhabit it by providing clean, safe drinking water to a village that has already lost too many children to water-related illnesses.
In Loving Memory of Ryan Blakeley Mells
June 20, 1990 – February 8, 2013