Dear friends and family,
I hope you’re doing well! I am writing this letter to tell you about a cause that I’ve recently got involved in here at Boston College. This cause is something that I brought back with me from my Magis experience in Spain this past summer.
For a week in August I embarked on a seven day hike through Basque country from Loyola to Javier in hopes of seeing God through different experiences. On this trip, my team and I walked for more than 97 miles through forests and across barren lands. For three days, we barely had water, and many of us suffered from heat stroke and dehydration. In the end however, it was still only a seven-day trip and after those seven days were over, I had all the water I wanted. All I could think about during those three days was how people walk for water every day as part of their daily life. They walk for hours and instead of coming back with clean water, they come back with dirty water. This consumption of dirty water is the cause of more than 30,000 deaths a week in developing nations, a number staggeringly unimaginable.
All I could think about was charity: water, a non-profit organization that I had been following on Twitter for a while, and decided that I could be a part of the force that brings clean water to these nations. I could be the catalyst for making a difference. So as I came back to Boston College, I invoked the aide of several friends and started a charity: water campaign to bring a BC well to Ethiopia. In the past five years charity: water has brought clean water to over two million people and are working towards providing water for even more. We can all be a part of their mission, bringing clean water to all.
So in the spirit of Christmas, a time for giving, I ask you to think about how much $25 can get you. Five mornings worth of coffee? A nice box of chocolates? Half a pair of jeans? A shirt on sale? 5 scratch tickets?
Well, $25 also brings clean water to one person…for the rest of his or her life.
While we’re worrying about what to buy our nieces for Christmas, many have to worry about whether or not their child will die tomorrow from lack of clean water.
The fact is more than 1 billion suffer from lack of access to clean drinking water. They have to walk for hours a day to retrieve dirty water from watering holes, a place where animals..well, do their business. Instead of using this time pursuing an education, raising their children, or learning a trade, they just walk. All day.
With just a $25 donation, you will be contributing to a water project that will bring water to a whole village in either Africa, Southeast Asia, or South America.
Imagine that, 5 drinks from Starbucks can give one person, a child, a mother, a grandpa clean drinking water for the rest of his or her life.
Therefore, I personally humbly ask that you help support our campaign. Any way that you can help this noble cause would be greatly appreciated. Please be as generous as you can. With every donation, charity: water sends you GPS tracking pictures to see where your money has gone. They donate 100% of all donations to fund water projects, so rest assured, your donations are not going to the salaries of employees.
We are accepting donations via the charity: water webpage at www.mycharitywater.org/BostonCollege-2012.
Here are links to two videos about charity: water and also to an article written about BC charity: water and myself.
http://www.bcheights.com/news/charity-water-raises-funds-and-informs-1.2697061#.TsFD60_6Gww
Thank you for your continued support of the Boston College community and myself.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Again, thank you so much! You are making a difference and every penny counts!
adventure is out there! 