Water for Christmas

Denver women raise money for clean water.

2011-07-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

This month's LIVE without challenge is 'clutter.'

This past Friday and Saturday, a group of women in the Denver area held a very successful 'LIVE without clutter' sale.*

Many thanks to Jen, Linda, Jodi, Tiffany and all the other volunteers who came together to make this sale happen.

Because of these generous and hard working ladies, more than 30 people will now have access to clean water!

*Want to hold your own LIVE without clutter sale? Let us know, and we would be more than happy to provide guidance and Water for Christmas print materials to help with your sale.

Give water....get a book!

2011-06-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

We were honored to have the opportunity to help sponsor the book Clean Water for Elirose during a recent Kickstarter campaign.

Needless to say, we were extremely excited when this box of books arrived in the mail:

And now, we are passing the opportunity on to you to own your very own copy of Clean Water for Elirose!

Here's the deal...it's pretty simple.

Make a donation of $20 or more (just $20 can provide one person clean water for 20 years), and we will send you a copy of Clean Water for Elirose.*

These books are a fantastic teaching tool for children. Whether in the classroom or at home, 'Clean Water for Elirose provides a tangible, concrete way for parents and teachers to educate young children about the difficult circumstances many children face in other parts of the world.'

So what are you waiting for? Go! Make your donation, and then simply leave a comment here, or on our facebook page so we can contact you regarding where to ship your book.

* all money goes through and directly to charity: water -- a trusted and highly rated non-profit organization which moves quickly and efficiently to build sustainable clean water projects around the world. Our particular partnership directly contributes to the building and maintenance of clean water wells in Liberia, West Africa

Live without 'clutter'

2011-06-26T18:45:00.000-07:00

LIVE without 'entertainment' will be wrapping up this week as June quickly comes to a close.

If you participated in this month's challenge, please don't forget to tally up what you lived without and make your donation here.

Looking ahead to July:

We were inspired when we heard from a group of women in Denver, CO who are preparing to hold a 'LIVE without' community garage sale (July , to raise money for clean water.*

This got us thinking; why don't we encourage each other to live without 'clutter' for the month of July?!

We all probably have things we don't need cluttering our rooms, closets, garages etc. So why not declutter, and help give clean water at the same time?!

So how can you help?

Rally your friends and neighbors, and hold your own 'LIVE without clutter' garage sale during the month of July.
Raise additional funds for clean water by encouraging your children to set-up a bake sale or lemonade stand at the garage sale.

If holding a garage sale is not an option, consider selling some items on Craigslist or ebay and donate that money to water. You'll be surprised at what you can get for the items sitting around your home collecting dust!

To date, the LIVE without campaign has raised almost $2000 for clean water projects,
and we are determined to hit the $5000 mark by the end of our last challenge.

Help us make July the biggest LIVE without month yet! Please consider joining us, and let's see how many people we can help provide clean water to by living without 'clutter.'

*if you live in the Denver area and have any items you would like to donate to the LIVE without clutter community garage sale, please email us at water_team@water4christmas.com.

UPDATE: 'Christmas In July' etsy sale

2011-06-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

**The Water for Christmas, 'Christmas in July' etsy sale has been postponed.**

In order to continue focusing our full efforts on the LIVE without campaign throughout the summer and into the fall, we have decided to postpone our 'Christmas in July' etsy sale.

For those who had graciously offered to donate items for our 'Christmas in July' sale are still welcomed to do so for our annual Christmas sale.

In past years, the Christmas etsy sales have been a great success; raising over $10,000 for clean water projects in West Africa!
This year, the Water for Christmas etsy shop will be opening on Friday, November 28th for our annual Christmas sale...so mark your calendars!

The key to growing our etsy shop is continuing to receive amazing and creative donations from our generous supporters...you!!

If you are interested in making a donation to the Water for Christmas etsy shop, you can do so by filling out this form. Also, please feel free to pass this on to anyone you know who may be interested in donating items.

Thank you!

Why water?

2011-06-18T22:31:00.000-07:00

Because we find the following statistics unacceptable:

*NEARLY 1 BILLION PEOPLE LACK ACCESS TO SAFE WATER.

*EVERY 20 SECONDS, A CHILD DIES FROM A WATER-RELATED DISEASE.

*ABOUT 80% OF SEWAGE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IS DISCHARGED UNTREATED.

*MORE PEOPLE HAVE CELL PHONES THAN ACCESS TO A DECENT TOILET.

*3.6 MILLION PEOPLE DIE EACH YEAR FROM WATER-RELATED DISEASES.

*LESS THAN 1% OF THE WORLD'S FRESH WATER IS READILY ACCESSIBLE FOR DIRECT HUMAN USE.

*MILLIONS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN SPEND SEVERAL HOURS A DAY COLLECTING WATER FROM DISTANT, OFTEN POLLUTED SOURCES.
(statistics courtesy of water.org)

Month 3.

2011-06-07T23:53:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe June has arrived. Not quite sure where the month of May went; it seemed to have flown by in a flash, though!

Thanks so much to all of you who donated last month; and many thanks to those of you who are just now joining us to 'live without' in order to help provide clean water to those truly living without.

June is already in full swing, and so is a new LIVE without challenge!

This month we are encouraging each other to live without 'entertainment.'

We have to admit, it was quite convicting as we discussed the countless ways and things we could live without this month.

Entertainment is a broad category. Here are just a few of the items we came up with that fall into the entertainment category:

Movies

Music (CD's/downloads, concerts etc.)

Gaming (video, online, phone games)

Theater productions

Amusement parks

Monthly subscriptions (netflix, movie channels, magazines)

And the list goes on and on.

Keep in mind, these are just ideas to get you thinking of how this month's challenge may apply to your life.

As with all of the LIVE without challenges, we encourage you to take this challenge and make it personal and relevant to your life.

Richard Stearns sums it up, quite perfectly, with this quote:

"I can imagine my own life without many of the so-called necessities that I have. You can take away my car and I would find a way to compensate by using public transportation and carpooling with a friend. You could take away my computer and my Internet access, my television, stereo and radio, and I could still have a full and prosperous life. You could reduce the size of my house and my income in half, and even take away my education and I could survive and perhaps thrive. But if you take away water and sanitation, you take away my health and that of my children. If you take away my health, you have taken away my energy and my industry. If you take away my energy and my ability to support my family, you have taken away my dignity; and if you take away my dignity, you have taken away hope—for the future, for my children, for a better life. This is the harsh reality of more than one billion people in the world who live without access to clean, safe water."

Let's see what we can do together this month to help ease the burden of the one billion thirsty currently living without access to clean and safe water.

Join us. LIVE without.

New month, new challenge!

2011-05-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

May is here! And with it, comes a new LIVE without challenge.

But before we talk about the new challenge, we would like to thank all of you who joined us in participating in April's challenge! Also, a big 'thank-you' to those of you who shared your LIVE without stories this past month. We encourage you to continue sharing your LIVE without stories with us here and on our facebook page.

If you participated in April's challenge, please head over to our donate page to make your end-of-the-month donation. All donations go securely through, and directly to, donations go securely through, and directly to, charity: water--and your donation is 100% tax deductible.

As our first challenge comes to a close, we are excited to kick-off a new challenge for the month of May, lunching out.

For this challenge, we are encouraging each other to pass up that lunch-time burger and fries, soup and salad, burrito and chips etc.; and instead, donate that money to help provide someone with clean water.

Get involved in the challenge; and please help us continue to spread the word by encouraging others to get involved too!!

Tell your friends what you are doing and why--and then encourage them to join with you. 'Brown-bag your lunch at the office and challenge your co-workers to do the same. Skip that weekly restaurant 'lunch-date' with a friend and have a picnic lunch instead. It's amazing how these little things we do each day, week, or month, really add up over time, and to think it only takes $20 to provide someone with life-saving water for around 20 years!

If 'lunching out' is not something you really do...no problem! Please feel free to replace 'lunching out' for your own live without item. We encourage you to give this entire campaign meaning by making each monthly challenge personal to you and relevant to your life.

Please visit our LIVE without page for more information on the challenge, along with some great tools to help you get involved and spread the word.

Also, please don't forget to jump on over to Facebook and 'like' the LIVE without page. We would love to hear your comments on our Facebook page regarding what you are living without each month, and how the challenge is impacting your life and those around you.

Thank you for your participation in this campaign and for your continued support!

We need YOU!

2011-04-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

We are well over half-way through the first LIVE without challenge month...coffee.

Many thanks to those who have shared with us what they are living without this month.

For some, it truly has been coffee. For others, their live without has been anything from soda to probiotic drinks!

Regardless of the item, it's been really cool to see people taking the concept and making it relevant to their lives.

We want to continue raising awareness regarding this challenge; and most importantly, the reason behind the challenge--the water crisis.

So in preparation for next month's challenge, we are adding a challenge to the challenge:-)

We are challenging each of you to tell at least one friend, co-worker or neighbor about the LIVE without challenge.

Please tell someone about the challenge and encourage them to do these three things:

1. Like our Facebook page. Let's see if we can reach 100 fans by May. Come on, that's only about 30 more fans...we can do it!

2. Join the LIVE without challenge. There's no commitment. It's simply a way of saying 'I am aware of the water crisis and I want to do something about it--I want to do my part to make a difference.'

3. Learn more about the water crisis, and how it's currently affecting nearly one billion people around the world.

So are you up for this challenge?

'water changes everything'

2011-04-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Check out the latest video from charity: water

Live Without challenge Q & A

2011-03-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

You asked, we’ve responded!

‘Live Without’ challenge Q & A:

Q: Do I have to participate each month?
A: Although we would love for as many people as possible to join the different challenges each month, feel free to participate as you feel led. We hope, though, that at least one of the six items is something that each person can somewhat see as a true ‘challenge’ to live without. Of course the end goal is to supply as much clean water as possible by our donations. But we also desire, though, that through this challenge we will all come away with a greater appreciation for what we daily take for granted; while at the same time becoming more aware of those around the world living each day without the most basic of necessities.

Q: For the April challenge, coffee, do I have to give up my coffee at home?
A: When we were brainstorming ideas for the challenge, we had in mind coffee drinks purchased from a coffee shop, coffee cart etc. Basically, a drink you go out of your way to buy.
For some people, though, coffee is not their thing. If you find yourself consuming other purchased drinks on a regular basis (soda, bottled water, sports drinks, cocktails etc.), then try and go without those drinks as a substitute for coffee. Whatever challenges you to live without!

Q: None of the six items listed are things that will challenge me. Can I substitute?
A: Of course! In fact, we encourage you to share with us what you are living without. If it’s not the suggested items, please leave us a comment here or on our facebook page and let us know what you’re
living without.

Q: Where do I make my donation at the end of each month?
A: To make your donation, please follow the red donate button at water4christmas.com.

Q: What tools will be provided to help remind me to ‘live without’ each month?
A: Please visit the Live Without page on our website for some useful tools (blog buttons, donation tracking calendars, postcards etc.). We also will be sending a reminder wristband to anyone who signs up here to join the challenge. We hope that these bands will be a daily reminder of the purpose for this challenge.

Please feel free to share your comments and questions regarding the Live Without challenge. We would also love to hear from you on our Facebook page.

World Water Day

2011-03-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

Today is World Water Day.

Every year, on March 22, we celebrate WWD as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources (UN WWD).

At Water for Christmas, we love seeing all the various clean water initiatives putting their creative efforts to use for the same end goal...clean water for all.

There are many ways to be a voice today.

Please consider joining our LIVE without challenge, set to begin on April 1st.
Visit our Facebook page and read more about it here on our blog.

Check out some other projects going on today at some of our favorite organizations.

The Adventure Project has a blog-a-thon campaign going on right now, typeTAP, to raise funds for a well repair program in Northern India. If they reach their goal of $10,000 in 24 hours, it will be matched.

Help them reach their goal, find out more by clicking on the picture.

Charity: water shows how water changes everything over on their site....cool stuff.

Don’t forget Living Water International and Samaritan’s Purse. Both are amazing organizations and offer lots of great ways to get involved.

And last, there’s a bunch of great ideas over at the official WWD site.

So don’t just sit there, go and get inspired!

Happy World Water Day!!

'Live Without' facebook page

2011-03-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

Click on over and 'like' the new facebook page for the Live Without campaign.

The page is still in the beginning stages of development, but we hope to have the page abuzz with conversation soon, and throughout the duration of campaign.
Help us make this happen by becoming a fan, and spreading the word regarding the challenge.

The 'Live Without' challenge begins April 1st!

World Water Day 2011

2011-03-12T11:28:00.000-08:00

World Water Day 2011 is just around the corner.

Each year, ‘a diverse coalition of water, sanitation, hygiene and health organizations come together for World Water Day. The goal of the coalition is to raise awareness and call for stronger commitments and more robust action to ensure universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation everywhere they are needed.’

Learn more here about the water crisis, and get ready to raise your voice on March 22.

I Can Live Without

2011-03-09T20:31:00.000-08:00

I Can Live Without

Today I stopped at Starbucks after a morning of errands. Just the other day I got a massage and met a friend for lunch. This weekend, our family will likely go out to dinner and catch the latest release at our local movie theatre.

Can I live without my daily coffee and the latest fad in jeans? Will I survive without having my feet massaged and my food served to me at a restaurant? Is it possible to go on one more day without seeing the latest, just released movie?

The answer is of course, YES. Life will go on without all these things. They are not necessities…they are in fact, luxuries…and these luxuries add up over time.

But the fact is, no one can live without water.

Right now, almost 1 billion people are currently living without clean, safe drinking water and basic sanitation. 4500 children die each day from the lack of clean drinking water. This is unacceptable.

The average American spends around $500 each year on coffee. That’s over $40 per month! But did you know that just $40 can provide clean, life-saving water to 2 people for an estimated 20+ years?

So what if I gave up my coffee (a luxury) and in turn gave that money to help give someone clean water (a necessity). Really not a big sacrifice for me, but life changing for someone else. Now, imagine if we all join together and give up our coffee? Maybe we can help provide clean water to an entire village!

So today, on the first day of Lent, we ask you to join us as we prepare our hearts and minds for a challenge. A challenge to live without....so others don’t have to.

Here’s how the 6 month giving challenge will work:

Starting in April we will join together; challenging one other, each month, to give up something...something we can easily live without.

We will kick it all off by giving up coffee. If you don’t drink coffee, live without your daily soda, bottled waters etc. At the end of April, please calculate the amount of money you would have spent on coffee (or other drinks), and make your donation here.*

Your donation each month may be $5 or $100…either way, it’s each of us giving up something we can live without, so someone who can’t live without clean water, can live.

The monthly breakdown will be as follows:
April: Coffee (soda, bottled water, unnecessary drinks, in general)
May: Lunch (eat out for lunch? ‘brown bag it’ instead)
June: Entertainment (movies, music etc.)
July: Pampering services (massages, mani/pedi, hair services, etc.)
July: Shopping (pass up new clothes, shoes, purses etc.)
August: Dining Out (eat at home instead)

Here’s how you can help:
Learn more about the water crisis
Invest in this cause. make a donation
Viral...post about this campaign on facebook, twitter, blogs etc.
Encourage your friends, family, co-workers etc. to get involved.

Please check back often as we will continue to provide tools and encouragement leading to the April 1st kick off.

Join us. Live without.

2011-01-18T13:09:00.000-08:00

Good read on the success of water projects in Nimba County, Liberia.

Donations made to Water for Christmas have gone directly to help fund water projects in this region and throughout Liberia.

Liberia: soap and healing. from charity: water on Vimeo.

Conflict in West Africa.

2011-01-10T19:01:00.000-08:00

Charity: water posted this update regarding the current situation in Cote d’Ivoire, directly affecting neighboring Liberia.

The West African country of Cote d’Ivoire, the world’s biggest cocoa producer, has been in turmoil since early December when outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo refused leave office despite opposition leader Alassane Ouattara’s UN-certified and internationally-recognized victory in November’s run-off election.

In Liberia, UN agencies are aiding refugees from among both Mr. Ouattara’s and Mr. Gbagbo’s supporters. Their numbers now top 22,000, most of whom are women and children who urgently need food, shelter and clean water, all in short supply in Liberia’s Nimba County, where the refugees are arriving (UN News Centre).

Currently all funds raised through Water for Christmas go directly to fund clean water projects in Liberia. We hold Liberia, and West Africa as a whole, extremely dear, and are praying for a quick resolution in Cote d’Ivoire and safety for the people of this entire region.

For more information and updates regarding this issue, please see below links:
charity: water log
UN News Centre
The Economist

W4C Etsy shop update and thank you

2011-01-05T22:42:00.000-08:00

The Water for Christmas Etsy shop brought in over $3000 during our December 'Shop4Water' sale.

We are so grateful to all the talented and creative artists who generously donated their time and energy to support the store.

Thanks to both the artist/crafters and our wonderful shop supporters, more than 150 people will now have access to clean and safe drinking water!

The store currently has quite a few remaining items, including several items just recently listed. Many items have been discounted significantly and it would be great to find these items a home before the store officially closes on January 15th.

The store will reopen this summer for our 'Christmas in July' sale when we hope to have our shop fully stocked with many new and exciting items.

We are preparing now to make this July sale BIG...with the goal of bringing lots of clean water to those most in need.

But we can't do this alone....we need you!

So we are starting now...thinking a few months ahead and calling all interested artists and crafters to join us. Those who have previously donated to our store, as well as new crafters who may have just heard about us...please join us!

For all interested artists/crafters, please send us an email at water_team@water4christmas.com. We will add you to our mailing list and keep you updated on dates and details regarding our Water for Christmas etsy shop.

We will also be posting all etsy shop updates and details here on our blog. Be sure to check back often, and please feel free to direct other interested parties here, as well.

This quote has been used since the inception of Water for Christmas, and continues to hold true to our efforts today....

Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world; Indeed, they’re the only ones who ever have. -Margaret Mead

Thank you!

12 People

2010-01-24T19:26:00.000-08:00

I don’t know why I get so excited about this.

But I lose more sleep over than anything else we do.

And it’s simply an opportunity for monthly recurring giving.

Giving people an opportunity to easily give $20 (or other amount) a month to clean water.

I don’t know why.

But this just makes sense to me. And I toss and turn.

We decided to do it last year after the Christmas effort ended and people were asking, “what’s next?” “What can we do now?”

None of us had any idea going into last year just how much water would change us. How we were not going to be able to let it go.

And so we developed a monthly giving program (300 Voices) to essentially give people a way to keep water on their hearts throughout the year. To further our commitment and resolve. And prepare a team of Water advocates for the next Christmas season.

I do believe in many respects, it was successful. Our hearts follow our treasure. And many (most) of our Voices (monthly givers) were leaders in the Christmas effort…raising their Voice and inspiring their friends and family in their own part of the country. Not to mention the thousands of people who were given clean water from the monthly giving.

So we’re doing it again… 12 People.

This is your invite.

Your invite to change the lives of 12 people. (Or 24. Or 36.)

Through $20.

One $20 dollar bill a month.

It’s so simple. With a paypal account, it takes maybe 2 minutes.

$20 (or other amount) will be automatically deducted each month.

BUT what we don’t want you to forget is what that represents. What exactly that means.

12 people.

12 real people.

The faces behind the image above are all people in LIberia who were given the gift of clean water this year.

For each person who signs up, it’s 12 more faces.

12 more people.

This is a small sacrifice for most of us.

But huge impact. Life changing for 12 people.

This makes sense to me.

SO let’s do this–just because I like to do things together. (I don’t know… I just do.)–

Think about it. Consider joining us. Talk to your spouse. Blog about it. Email or see if you can rally one other person to join us who wouldn’t otherwise know about the opportunity.

(For those of you without paypal accounts, who still want to join us in this effort–you can:
*make a one-time donation with a credit card here ($240 is equal to a year of monthly giving)
*mail in a check each month to the address listed here–checks are made payable to charity: water with Water For Christmas in the memo line).

This is one of those things that shows the power of a team, the power of people coming together to do something…a simple gift each month.

A gift that changes lives.

$20/month. 12 people.

“When the story of these times gets written, we want it to say that we did all we could, and it was more than anyone could have imagined.” (Bono)

Ready?

2010-01-24T19:25:00.000-08:00

Numbers (as of Dec. 31, 2009):
In the 14 months that Water For Christmas has been in existence, the total of money raised is $275,000.
Which amounts to $650 dollars a day for 14 months.
In just November and December of 2009: $175,000.
That is equal to 55 community wells.
The total can and will solve very close to 1% of Liberia’s water crisis. (that’s more amazing than it sounds. Yes, we still have work to do…)
And these are my favorite:
That’s 13,750 people.
32 people a day for the last 14 months have received the life-changing gift of clean water.
How did this happen?
Because you all acted. You all allowed your heart to break and your hands to move. You raised your voices with us. You held your resources in generous, open hands. You rallied your friends and family. You spoke. You gave. You changed the world for 13,750 people.
This is amazing. We thank God for allowing us to be a part of His heart.
And more than ever, I feel like we are only at the tip of the iceberg. That it goes to show that we do not need titles or positions or large resources to do something. That we can come together to dream dreams of compassion. We can collectively raise our voice, combine our efforts. We can join together as mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters in America to fight and change the reality for mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters across the ocean. There is power not in celebrity and economic status and prestige…but in passion. You have taught me that.
And I cannot wait to see where 2010 takes us.
It’s funny because I was talking to a friend about needing to get myself some marketable skills. I was thinking perhaps at some point I would need to get a paying job and I’m not exactly sure what skills I have. This friend suggested, “Well, you could do fundraising.”
My response: “Oh my gosh, NO! I would HATE that. That is probably the job I would dislike most in the world.”
Her response: “Oh. Isn’t that what you do now? What you spend 40 hours a week doing already?”
Me: “Um. No….Um. I guess. Geez.”
I have never thought about it that way. Honestly never occurred to me in the last 14 months that we were ‘fundraising’. It has always been about clean water. About wanting to see that mothers around the world do not bury their children due to contaminated water when clean water waits beneath the surface. And it just so happens the way to help them is to fund the drilling of wells. That is what they needed. And that’s what we do.
It’s not about fundraising.
It’s about water.
It’s about making right what is wrong.

"300 Voices"

2009-02-24T22:33:00.000-08:00

“Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world; indeed they’re the only ones who ever have.” (Margaret Mead)

OK, here we go.

Sometime in December, I did some rough math. I was all excited because I thought I was onto something. I wondered, “So if we raise $60,000 every year at Water For Christmas, how many years would it take us to give Liberia clean water?” I furiously typed numbers into the calculator. Hit the equal button….

300 years.

Hmmm.

That’s a little discouraging.

But it haunted me. And I couldn’t shake it.

We have to use this. This is too important.

I might be busy in 300 years. And more importantly, the thirsty cannot wait that long.

Wrestled with it. Heard from so many of you that said, “Now what?”

And settled that we simply will kick it up a notch…or 300.

We will expand our borders, involve more people…300 times.

And then it won’t take 300 years, we can do it in one year.

So here’s the plan. Stay with me.

We need 300 people.

300 people to make a committment to 300 Voices…Water for all Seasons. This will be a commitment of $20/month. (that’s $5 a week, $240 for the whole year). WFC fund will stay open all year. We get 300 people to commit to $20 a month for 2009 and that’s an additional $72,000.(Did you get that? For your $20 a month, combined with 299 others and their $20 a month that is $72,000 in 2009. That’s 15 wells!) That’s a lot of money. For little sacrifice personally. (as always, 100% of money goes to charity: water. They use 100% to drill fresh water wells and clean water solutions).

But beyond that the idea is to keep water on the hearts and minds of a 300 person team. For where our treasure is, there will our hearts be. So we give all year. We pray. We dream. We plan. And then in November 2009, we kick off Water For Christmas with a team of 300. (Now, you are not committing to anything as far as next years campaign goes…you don’t have to do anything. But I think you will want to. But there will be no obligation to be involved in Water For Christmas 2009).

This is how it will work:

water4christmas.com is being developed. And will be ready for launch later in the year.

But for now, go here to sign up. (Kari has been working extremely hard to get this ready. Many, many thanks.) Give us your name and location. We will start of list of people around the country who are committing to Water. (you can do your donations with $5 weekly, or $20 a month, or a $240 donation for the whole year–whatever is best for your budgets). We will not bombard with emails–but if you want monthly or weekly reminders to donate we will do that. If you don’t do online giving, and would like to mail in checks, you can still do that by making checks payable to Charity Global with Water For Christmas in the memo line. (mailed to 150 Varick St. 5th Floor New York, NY 10013.) I will even send you a set of 12 envelopes if you want to do a monthly $20 donation that way.

We will have a counter showing how close we are to getting 300 people.

There’s a new blog badge for the 300 Voices…use it if you want.

Anyone can join us. Talk about it. Blog about it. I know many of us who participated in WFC 2008 were having a hard time shaking it. A hard time letting it go. So this is for you. But even if you were not a part of WFC at all but would like Water to be one of the things you give to in 2009, you can still join us now.

At this point, all it means is a $20/month commitment. The giving is just to force a us to put action behind our causes. And provide clean water for thousands in the process. And then ideally in November 2009, we have people whose treasure has followed their heart and they are ready to go. We reach 300 times more people with awareness about clean water. The money is multiplied. And clean water will erupt from the dirt of Africa’s floor.

We will be one voice. 300 strong. For clean water. For life.

By signing up you are simply saying, “Water matters.” And we believe that enough to give $20 of my treasure each month. It’s that simple.
I want to make it clear that this is merely part of who we are. It’s simply part of loving people the way Jesus taught us to. We cannot love thirsty people without giving them water to drink.

I wouldn’t do this if I wasn’t confident in you guys. I’ve talked to you on the email, on the blogs, in the churches, at the schools. I’ve heard the stories of others that I don’t know. And I just believe there is a force here. A force we can combine and channel. And use to make big impact.

I’m so excited to partner, to team up. 300 times.

Now there will be resources available and developed throughout the year to help us all at WFC time. But right now, I want to see if we can build a team of 300. Simply 300 people willing to give to Water throughout the year. $20 a month.

So. You want in?

Go. Sign up. We’ll add your name to the growing list in the sidebar. (we have to input them manually so it may take a couple hours)
(There will be continued updates about all the WFC wells throughout the year. It looks like I may personally be on the ground in Liberia to report back to you about how the Water money is changing and saving lives. And clarify further why we can’t stop. Why we must keep it fresh on our hearts and minds. Even if it’s only $20/month. Times 300. )

"Water for Christmas"

2008-11-03T09:30:00.000-08:00

“A pessimist, they say, sees a glass of water as being half empty; an
optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a giving person
sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might
be thirsty.”
(G. Donald Gale)

You guys ready?

We’re digging for water.

The lack of access to clean water is the leading cause of death in underdeveloped countries

Try to imagine walking on a three hour journey…twice a day…to collect a liquid which shares “two diabolical identities–life mixed with death. It is both cure and poison.”(Dan Haseltine)

Inside the containers of millions of people around the world is a mixture of “water, dirt, algae, cow and goat feces, bacteria, mosquito larvae and other insect eggs and parasites and various waterborne diseases waiting for a host.” (Haseltine)

They are forced every day to make the choice…drink and die.
Or don’t drink and die.
And die they do.

4500 children die EVERY day due to water related diseases.

Did you get that?

4500 children every day.

And the solution lies simply below the surface…in a relatively inexpensive and permanent solution.

And for these reasons, we knew from the beginning one of our projects was going to be an attempt to dig a fresh water well.
This is hard for us to imagine because WATER is NOT something we worry about.

But again, please try. Eyes open.

We found charity: water to partner with and were so excited about a well-digging opportunity.

But as the holidays approached, we got nervous. We feared everyone (including ourselves) would start holding their money a bit tighter as Christmas approached. We didn’t want to commit to building a well and then have to come up short.

We thought about it and prayed about it for several weeks.

We were consumed by it.

Then it hit us.

Isn’t that the point?

It’s the point of all these things. All these projects. To force us to loosen our grip on earthly consumption. To strengthen our resolve to issues of justice. To keep our eyes open. To give more. Sacrifice more. To keep the world from changing us.

Then it was these statistics that sealed the deal—
Americans spend 450 billion dollars on Christmas every year.
It would cost a third of that to give the whole world clean water.

Are you kidding me?

Unacceptable.

That was it. We were no longer digging one well. We were launching in the middle of holiday season. And we’re going for 10 billion.

Water For Christmas.

We’re buying Water For Christmas.

We are doing it because we want to. Because it resonates with who we want to be.

And we are inviting everyone to join us.

If you want…individuals, families, churches, businesses.

We can all give up something.
Little somethings.
Big somethings.
This holiday season.

In order that people can have clean water.

We have a web page set up with charity:water where donations can be made. water4christmas.com. 100% of our donations go directly to digging wells. Donations can be made there or by check and/or cash collection. Through them, we will be able to track our progress. Details coming.

They said they have a huge need in Liberia right now. And well, where the needs are is where we want to be.

So we are working on well projects in Liberia.

charity:water provides the post-drill training in maintenance and repair to the local community. A very important piece of long term impact.

We will wrap this campaign up on Dec. 31st.

It’s not hard to imagine what Jesus would desire from us in the celebration of His birthday–
“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me….To the extent that you did it to one of these, even the least of them, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:35,40)

It’s His heart. And I want it to be mine.

And so this year I am asking for Water For Christmas.

I know these issues are on the heart of many of you as well. If we joined forces we could begin to make a serious dent.

And sometimes we just need the opportunity.

So that is the point of Water For Christmas…to unite people from all across the country in a common goal. Clean water for all people.
We also know that when we come together in heart and mind, “there will be no needy persons among them.” (Acts 4:32-34)

Clean water is within the reach of this generation.

For goodness sake, it’s 2% of American’s annual Christmas spending.

We can do that.

And we’re starting with Water For Christmas.

Our friend Pastor Larry in Maryland was one of the first to join us in Water For Christmas commitment. It’s a cool story and you can read it here. He says this perfectly –”So, if you want to join me in saying, “All I want for Christmas is water,” great, but don’t do it out of guilt or obligation or anything like that or else you will have a miserable Christmas. Do it because you want to. Maybe you will want to give up one gift for water. Or simplify Christmas dinner and give the savings to Water for Christmas.”

This is going to look different for everyone.

But we can all put water on our radar of things to care about.

We do not see this as another token charity that we pull out at Christmas time–appease our conscience–and then carry on as normal. This is not meant to replace or compete with the programs already in place in your churches and family traditions. I guess I kind of want us to feel it. To give up something. Not to do this in addition to overindulgence. Sacrifice something. Make it’s absence felt. Mother Teresa said, “I hope you are not giving only your surplus. You must give what costs you, make a sacrifice, go without something you like, that your gift may have some value before God. Then you will be truly brothers and sisters to the poor who are deprived of even the things they need.” (Believe me, I’m squirming as I type that too.)

$20 gives one African clean water for life. $5,000 dollars digs a well for a whole village.

10 billion dollars gives the WHOLE WORLD clean water.

So the only thing standing in the way of life and health for millions of people in Africa the inability to pay for the drilling to clean water.

We can do that, people.
In Africa, “Water is Life.”
We can give life.
And that’s what we are going to do.

Water For Christmas.

(OK, details later today on how to get started! Lots of fun things for you to use to get Water For Christmas started. Stay tuned).