Friday, December 19, 2008

water water everywhere, and not a drop to drink

This is from Pistachio, the Twitter nom of Laura Fitton, a Boston mom and consultant:
I want to make a big difference. To save kids lives. It’s a tough year though. I don’t want to ask much of any one person. I realized just $2 from each of my Twitter readers would be $25,000. If everyone who reads this - YOU - gives just $2, Charity: Water can build an entire water project for a school or hospital in Africa.
Read her entire post here.

It's a pretty easy set-up. You sign up for TipJoy, you can access your paypal funds and donate as small as 25 cents ($2 per person is our goal) but of course, as big as your dreams and budget allow.

Three easy steps from Laura's blog:

  1. Sign up for tipjoy at: http://tipjoy.com/createaccount/platform/twitter/. You have the option to sign up using only your twitter credentials.
  2. Copy and paste this Tweet: p$2 @wellwishes to build wells and save children’s lives (via @tipjoy)
  3. Be sure you have funded your Tipjoy account. Start with as little as $5 and tip it to whomever you wish.
Direct: You can donate ANY amount via credit card or PayPal right at the Charity: Water site. (they ask for a minimum $10 donation.)

This is from a Washington Post article on clean water. Read the entire article if you have a chance, it's written by Jan Eliasson, former Swedish ambassador to the United States, the president of the United Nations General Assembly and Retired Rear Admiral Susan Blumenthal, a physician, who served as assistant surgeon general of the United States.

Water is essential to all aspects of life, yet 99 percent of water on Earth is unsafe or unavailable to drink. About 1.2 billion people globally lack safe water to consume and 2.6 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation. There are also stark comparisons: Just one flush of a toilet in the West uses more water than most Africans have to perform an entire day's washing, cleaning, cooking and drinking.


What Laura wants to do is within the realms of possibility, if each of her Twitter followers step up with $2. Will you join us in this dream, for something so simple as water, something most of us take so much for granted every single day?

2 comments:

Erin said...

Just a word about Charity:Water. They're a great organization. I followed the founder's blog before C:W ever existed, back in his Mercy Ship days. If you ever want to read an amazing story of redemption, check out Scott Harrison's bio.

Sarah Louise said...

yay, Erin, I figured you'd know something--I was thinking about you as I posted this.

xo,
SL