We made this Valentine Video Card just for YOU — our amazing supporters who make our work possible every day. We also just wanted to put a smile on your face!
P.S. No paid actors were used in the filming of this video. The charity: water staff are just this fun. :)
P.P.S. A huge thank you to Brooke Fraser for giving us the perfect song.
Every September, we celebrate charity: water’s birthday month by rallying our supporters around a specific country or partner. Over the past decade, we’ve used clean water to restore dignity in India, reduce disease in Central African Republic and create new opportunities for families in Rwanda. We’ve funded drilling rigs in Ethiopia and brought clean water to the desert in Mali & Niger. And every year, we’ve done it with the help of thousands of fundraisers.
This incredibly inspiring community has done ALL KINDS OF THINGS to raise money for clean water. Grown men have run marathons in speedos. Couples have traded their wedding gifts for donations. Kids have sold lemonade, sold their artwork and even sold their toys.
And this year, we want to celebrate that.
As much as our September Campaign is about impact, it’s also about the opportunity to come together with a group of strangers and do something bigger than you could ever do by yourself.
You don’t have to be rich. You don’t have to be famous. This is about being part of a team! And every contribution matters. In fact, all of those little bits add up to a whole lot.
And here’s the best part… you can do anything to help.
That’s the message this year: #nothingiscrazy. You can summit a mountain, eat strange food for a month or grow a mustache. Swim, sing, dance, doodle, donate!
You can do anything you know how to do to help change the lives of people in need. The craziest thing we can do is nothing.
Traveling is a key component of our work here at charity: water.
Our programs team spends around 30% of their time in the field checking in with our local partners on the progress of water projects around the world. Our creative team packs up and travels abroad to meet the people we serve and collect their stories so we can connect our supporters to our work. Even our fundraising team is constantly on the road all around the US and beyond to meet with donors, attend speaking engagements, and host events.
Having the opportunity to travel and meet with our supporters, partners, and beneficiaries face to face adds so much value to the work that we do. It gives us the chance to form real relationships throughout the charity: water community and truly show them how important they are to us and our work.
That’s why we are so excited to announce the launch of our partnership with Away, an amazing travel brand founded on the idea that all trips are worth taking, and the more connections made between people, places, and ideas, the better.
We collaborated with Away to create luggage that helps support our mission of bringing clean water to people worldwide. The special edition suitcases are black with a bright charity: water-yellow zipper, co-branded handles, and a custom interior lining inspired by prints from Niger.
With every purchase of a special edition Away suitcase, $30 will be donated to charity: water. Together, we’ll give a community in need access to clean water. So not only is this luggage that helps you see the world, it helps make the world a better place too.
“We’re proud to be working with a company like Away that shares our core values of transparency and brand excellence,” our founder, Scott Harrison, said. “Our hope is that through this partnership, we can inspire the Away community and together, bring many more people clean and safe drinking water.”
The collaboration will feature Away luggage in two sizes—The Carry-On and Bigger Carry-On—and will launch on World Water Day, March 22nd.
You’ve seen it everywhere on our site, at our events, on our shirts… tattooed on our arms… and although the Jerry Can has become a mainstay for our staff and supporters, we want to let you know what it actually is and why it’s a symbol of the charity: water mission.
What’s a Jerry Can?
Simply put, a Jerry Can is a container for fuel or water. Many people in developing countries use it to haul and store their drinking water. The standard five-gallon Jerry Can weighs about 40 pounds when full.
To us, the Jerry Can is a symbol of the water crisis. Millions of people around the world spend hours each day with one strapped securely on their backs, held tightly to their hips or balanced on top of their heads. The Jerry can is a part of their everyday lives. It accompanies them on long walks to a water source; for women in Sub-Saharan Africa, this is at least a three-hour ordeal. It is the keeper of a precious resource they must make the most of each day; many families use just one five-gallon Jerry can each day.
But the bright yellow Jerry Can is also a symbol of hope to change the water crisis.
What if we could make it so that all the water collected in Jerry Cans around the world was safe enough to drink? That it could bring health and opportunity for communities in need? That is our mission.
A little Jerry Can history…
To most people, this simple metal or plastic can means “gasoline,” and rightfully so – the first Jerry Cans were introduced as gasoline containers by the German military at the start of World War II. These five-gallon cans, also called “Jeep cans” or “blitz cans” (or, in Germany, “Wehrmachtskanisters”) were made of steel and usually sat in the back of vehicles as a reserve tank of gas. It’s said that Adolph Hitler anticipated the biggest challenge to taking over Europe in WWII was fuel supply. So Germany stocked up.
As Germany moved through Europe and North Africa, so did their thousands of gasoline cans. These cans proved to be dependable and durable; soon, countries all over the world were adapting them to haul and store liquids, coining them “Jerry Cans” because of their German origin (“Jerry” was a snide name for a German WWII soldier). New water container designs emerged but nothing could top the strength and simplicity of the original rectangular, X-marked Jerry Can.
By the 70s, the plastic Jerry hit the market. Steel Jerry Cans weigh 10 pounds empty; a plastic Jerry Can weighs 3.5 pounds, and is much cheaper to manufacture. While the military uses metal cans, people all over the world now buy fuel or water for domestic use in plastic Jerry Cans.
Since plastic cans ship easily and inexpensively, you can find fuel for sale in bright yellow or blue Jerry cans in just about any developing country. And when the gas is gone, families resourcefully keep the can – and after a good wash, it becomes a primary water container.
Before plastic Jerry Cans, many communities we work in used heavy clay pots or metal containers to haul their water. Their switch to Jerry Cans in the last few decades makes sense: a recycled plastic can lightens up the three-hour walk many take each day to collect water.
Join us to share the Jerry Can
We invite you to also take up this symbol to raise awareness about the nearly one billion people who live without clean drinking water. Check out our new Jerry Can merchandise. Use our Jerry Can banners, Twitter backgrounds and print materials to spread the word. Pass on the Jerry Can and teach others that we can change the water crisis in our lifetime.
You may have noticed we haven’t been blogging much lately. And today, on our fifth birthday, you’ll understand why: we just spent the last week and a half shooting, producing and uploading 250 videos to send individually to some of our fundraisers and supporters. Whew! It was a crazy, exciting, funny and beautiful project.
It’s been rewarding for all of our staff — from web developers to accountants to designers — to learn the details about campaigners and then jump behind the camera to get real with each of them. charity: water turns five today. In the last half decade, we’ve been able to serve more than two million people with clean and safe drinking water.
But that never would’ve happened if we didn’t have the supporters who took our story and made it theirs.
You can see all of our thank-you’s on our new YouTube channel here:
charity: water began almost ten years ago with a birthday party. Since then, it’s been one of the best ways for supporters (especially young ones) to help raise money for clean water.
Today, over 18,000 people have used their birthday to help serve others in need. And together they’ve raised enough to bring clean and safe drinking water to half a million people around the world.
This community is incredible, and we wanted to introduce some of them to you. Here are four young heroes who are currently sacrificing their birthday gifts to help bring clean water to families in need…
Meet Evelyn and Madison. Two of the cutest three-year-olds we have the pleasure of knowing. These twins both pledged their 3rd golden birthday this year to help bring clean water to people around the world after their parents heard about charity: water on the Bill Simmons podcast.
“We were blown away by all the personal stories. The different stories and statistics really pulled at our heart strings and it just happened to be that we listened to the podcast the week before the girls’ birthday.”
Inspired by the lightbulb going off that they wanted to help build the character trait of generosity in their children at a young age and get them thinking about the future of serving together as a family and living for others, Evelyn and Madison’s parents talked to the girls about giving up their birthday for charity: water.
“charity: water is the golden bullet of birthday presents. You give health, education, and time to families. There is not a day that goes by when I don’t think about how much water we use, and how I never worry about my children being sick from the water they drink.”
After flooding social media with cute pictures of the twins and spreading the message of these little girls desire to help others, the donations started pouring in. Many people who don’t even know the Wever family have been donating to the girls’ campaign and even going beyond the $6.
Evelyn and Madison have been thrilled to see the success of their campaign and even more thrilled to know that they’re helping change the lives of kids all around the world.
“Momma gives us clean water, other mommas should have clean water to give to their kids too.”
Ever since he was 4, Dylan has chosen to support a charity on his birthday. Two years ago, he heard that professional skateboarder Tony Hawk pledged his birthday for charity: water and he was so inspired, he decided to pledge his birthday too.
This is Dylan’s second birthday campaign for charity: water and he’s already on a roll. He’s hosted lemonade and art stands to raise money and even hosted a birthday party where he asked for cash gifts instead of presents.
Thanks so much for your support, Dylan! We can’t wait to see the impact your birthday has on the lives of people all around the world!
Sydney first heard about charity: water when she was 9 years old and a girl from her church started fundraising for the organization. A girl that we all have come to know and love over the years: Rachel Beckwith.
After hearing Rachel’s story, Sydney was inspired and knew that anyone, no matter what age they were, could make a difference.
When Sydney first started her campaign, she reached her fundraising goal of $450 within three hours! Since then, she has posted about her campaign on social media and even had a birthday party where she asked her friends to donate to her campaign instead of bringing her gifts.
So far Sydney has raised over $1,200 and we can’t wait to see what else she has in store.
Six-year-old Gabriel Torres first heard about charity: water when his mom showed him videos of families and kids from around the world working hard to gather water that wasn’t even clean.
“I never knew so many people didn’t have clean water,” he said. “When I saw how hard these families worked to get water from open wells that they could get hurt using, and how they walked for so long to get there just to bring home brown water to their children and families, I wanted to help.”
This is Gabriel’s first birthday campaign for charity: water and he’s already raised over 3 times his initial goal! He raised his first $130 in a matter of minutes just by talking to his dad’s friends about what he was planning on doing for his birthday. And for his birthday party, he even created his own Jerry Can to collect donations.
“Many people are very happy when they see how much I care. They think it’s pretty cool that I decided I didn’t want toys for my birthday or any gifts. Instead I wanted $6 to change lives and give people clean water that don’t have it today. I know that I have clean water and I never knew how lucky I was. I think everyone should be able to have clean water like we do.”
It’s been an incredible year at charity: water. We made this video to capture some of the highlights of 2012 and to celebrate you, our amazing supporters. But the year is not over yet. You can still donate and help people in need. 100% directly funds clean water projects.
Even the charity: water staff who’ve never met Sarah Peck know her name. She’s famous in our office. Not for the number of campaigns that she’s run or even the amount of money she’s raised… but forone very crazy promise she made years ago.
It was 2012. 28-year-old Sarah had just heard charity: water’s founder, Scott, speak at Chris Guillebeau’s World Domination Summit, and she was fired up. She wanted to do something to help bring clean water to people in need, and there wasn’t time to wait.
Within 48 hours, Sarah had created her fundraising campaign. She set a $29,000 goal (for her 29th birthday) and announced her terms:
“If enough people donate a crazy amount of money, I promise to swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco in the murky, cold waters — in nothing but my birthday suit.”
Yep. You read that correctly. Sarah Peck volunteered to swim 1.5 miles in freezing cold water, wearing only a swim cap, to raise money for clean water.
“Water is incredibly important to me because it’s what makes me feel at home. I have the luxury of splashing around in giant bodies of water and I realized that some people don’t have enough to stay clean, I want to change that.”
The first $7,000 came quickly. But soon things started to slow down. Even though $29 donations were coming in from all over the place, it still felt like the needle wasn’t moving. That’s when Sarah’s competitive side really came out.
“I made it my personal mission for several weeks to ask as many people as I could — and to ask everyone I came in contact with, whether or not I knew them! I ended up taking taxis and using the ride time to share the story, and drivers would donate my fare or a cup of coffee to the cause, and I’d translate that into donations.”
With the help of 460 donations, Sarah didn’t just reach her $29,000 goal, she surpassed it. Her final tally: $32,398. Which meant that it was time to push aside fears of sharks, tides and giant ships and fulfill her promise.
She studied tide charts, hired a boat captain, notified the Coast Guard. And on a cold day at the end of September 2012, she became a charity: water legend.
It’s fair to call it crazy. Everyone at charity: water calls it crazy. Sarah herself called it crazy.
But crazy is what makes it memorable. Crazy is what inspired hundreds of donors. And, in this case,crazy is what brought clean water to more than 650 people in Ethiopia.
“At the end of the day, my discomfort came from being cold for about an hour, and breaking through some of my social insecurities to ask people for money — that’s nothing compared to not having access to water.”
In addition to the people who took part in her campaign, and the taxi drivers and baristas she befriended, Sarah has inspired every one of us. Our slogan, “the craziest thing we can do is nothing,” was written with her in mind. And her campaign is one we will share forever.
Thank you, Sarah, for giving your voice, your time and your humility to our cause. Here’s to the crazy ones, indeed.
“The world is not transactional. Love and light are expansive. Giving isn’t part of a zero-sum game. When you give, you don’t lose — you get something else in return, and the world keeps moving.”
Some days we’re better at being adults than others. Today is not one of those days. Halloween justhappens to be something we’ve always taken pretty seriously at charity: water.
Highlights from our office this year include: a very lovable Garth and Kat, a very terrifying set of twins from the Shining, a human taco, some mac n cheese, Amelia Earhart, a ship captain, an ape, a viking, a Frank head and some very scrappy ninja turtles. Enjoy.
Also– did you see our Snapchat (@charitywater) this morning?!
When I stared working at charity: water three years ago, the adjective I would’ve used to describe gaming would not have been “philanthropic.”
The U-Pick Video Game Marathon is a perfect example of how wrong I was.
These guys and girls have now run THREE campaigns for charity: water and raised more than $8,000 for clean water projects. Not only that, but they’ve done it by having fun.
The U-Pick team gives people the option to choose games for them to play by making a donation to clean water. Then they play the most popular video games for 48 hours … straight! And they broadcast the entire thing (which you can watch live from June 12th at 8PM EST through June 14th at 8PM here: http://www.upickvg.com/watch-now).
The dedication this crew has to bringing clean water to people in developing countries leaves me speechless (which isn’t easy). I cannot wait to watch them beat their $5,000 goal this month!
That’s the number of people who have gained access to clean and safe water thanks to our brand partners. We are incredibly grateful for this community of like-minded brands and their ability to raise awareness for the water crisis in powerful and creative ways.
To celebrate their work and inspire new collaborations, we hosted our third annual Brand Partnership X Summit at Canoe Studios in NYC! This year, we were joined by over 65 brands for a day of insightful conversations. We focused on innovation and what it means for our work at charity: water, in partnerships, and in the world around us. From groundbreaking sensor technology and the launch of The Pool to jewelry crafted from meteorites and sprinkle-filled rainbow cakes, we left feeling inspired to keep creating and pushing the boundaries.
Check out the highlights from this year’s event:
We are so grateful to everyone who joined us. The Summit would not have been possible without our speakers who generously gave their time to help us see how purposeful innovation can drive change. A very special thank you to:
Professor, author, and entrepreneur Scott Galloway, for showing us the importance of having a meaningful career and helping us understand our life strategies, not just business strategies.
Kristin De Simone and Sylvia Hartley, Partners at Thrive Market, for sharing the story of how Thrive Market decided to partner with charity: water and for reimagining what giving means for their brand and customers.
Simon Sinek, optimist and bestselling author, for teaching us what it means to feel fulfilled and reminding us that we need to build the future together.
Artist and designer Monique Péan, for sharing her story and inspiring us with her incredible craft and unwavering commitment to sustainability and support of local communities.
Paull Young, Partner at Facebook, for showing us what being a true partner really means and encouraging the importance of working in tandem to create change.
Amirah Kassem, baker and entrepreneur, for urging us to be our true selves and demonstrating how working hard and inspiring joy can go hand-in-hand!
Another special thank you to Canoe Studios for the beautiful space and delicious catering; Taylor Creative for the comfortable and stylish furnishings; Badger Mountain Vineyard and Sunday Beer Co for providing the wine and beer for cocktail hour; Thrive Market and Scott Galloway for helping us fill our swag bags; C2 Imaging for printing and installing the stunning branding elements; Dear Bayard for the beautiful greenery; The Spaniard for hosting our pre-event cocktail party; and all of the volunteers who worked tirelessly and joyfully to ensure the day went off without a hitch.