Exactly a year ago today, nine-year-old Rachel Beckwith was killed in a tragic car accident on highway I-90 near Seattle, Washington. After her death, thousands of people all around the world started donating to her mycharity: water fundraising page, and over the course of a month, raised over $1.2 million in Rachel’s honor. That money is now helping 60,000 people get access to clean water.
Rachel’s mom, Samantha, and her grandparents, Richard and Roseanne, are in Ethiopia with charity: water today, meeting some of the people Rachel helped. We’ve documented the entire day on video so we can share it with all of you. We’re busy working on it right now, and we’ll post it here on Tuesday.
Please check back on the blog soon, or sign up on our email list, so we can send the video straight to your inbox.
She started her campaign hoping to raise $300 to bring clean water to 15 people.
Today, friends and strangers helped Rachel Beckwith top $1 million raised in her mycharity: water campaign.
No one at charity: water has been following Rachel’s campaign as closely as Founder and CEO Scott Harrison. Here are a few thoughts from him to those who have helped Rachel’s wish come true:
To everyone who has supported Rachel’s campaign: you are a part of a huge and sweeping movement of generosity, compassion and honor. More than 23,000 people from across the globe have now left donations and messages for Rachel, and her story has even spread throughout Africa.
When Rachel’s campaign closes, 100% of the funds raised will go straight to our partners in the field, so they can begin building more water projects for people in need. About 18 months later, when these projects are finished, charity: water will share the GPS coordinates, photos and other details about each community Rachel’s campaign funded water for.
All of us at charity: water have been humbled by the sacrifice and unselfishness of this remarkable little girl. To borrow Nick Kristof’s words, may we all learn from Rachel Beckwith.
– Scott Harrison charity: water Founder and CEO
More on Rachel’s legacy:
- Read Nick Kristof’s column on Rachel and a young generation of giving here > - Watch Rachel’s mother, Samantha, talk about her daughter’s life on The Early Show here > - See CNN’s feature on Rachel and her campaign here > - Visit Rachel’s mycharity: water campaign page here >
Many of you have been following our news about Rachel Beckwith, a nine-year-old girl from Seattle who tragically passed away in a car accident two weeks ago.
Earlier this year, Rachel launched a mycharity: water birthday campaign to raise $300. Rachel’s wish was to bring clean water to 15 people in need. Since her death, her campaign has raised more than $700,000 — which can bring water to more than 37,000 people. It’s by far the highest-raising mycharity: water campaign in history.
This morning, CBS’s The Early Show interviewed Rachel’s mom, Samantha, along with charity: water founder and CEO Scott Harrison.
After the interview this morning, Samantha dropped by the charity: water office with a friend… and was greeted with a stack of letters and checks we got in the mail today from people all over the U.S. We opened them, read through them and spent some time just chatting in the office together.
We’re blown away by the support behind Rachel’s wish. See how people across the country — and even around the world — have responded to her campaign here >
This September, charity: water turns 10 and we’re celebrating by launching our biggest physical installation in charity: water history. We’ll be taking over The Winter Garden at Brookfield Place in NYC for three weeks this August to raise awareness for the 663 million people living without clean water around the world.
And we want you to be there with us.
We’ll be sharing our new Virtual Reality film, The Source, and inviting the public to put on a VR headset and meet Selam, a 13-year-old girl in Ethiopia. Guests will step into Selam’s world for 9 minutes and experience the moment her village gets clean water for the first time and their lives change forever.
Thanks to a generous anonymous donor and our friends at Morgan Stanley, every viewing of the film will unlock a $30 donation and give one person clean water. Our goal is to bring at least 10,000 people clean water by the end of the three weeks.
If you can’t join us in person, you can still experience The Source! Watch it online here.
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!
Two years ago, humanitarian photographer Esther Havens met a young boy named Jean Bosco as a charity: water well was being drilled in his village. Since then, she’s photographed hundreds of people around the world for charity: water. She recently revisited that first village and met up with Jean Bosco again. Here is her story.
All I could hear was my heart thumping.
I walked a familiar dusty road with a camera in my right hand, a stack of photos in my left. I was on a mission to find Jean Bosco.
My world first collided with his two years ago when I traveled to Rwanda with an organization called Wishing Well Africa. We spent three days in his village, Murinja. Each morning, we followed people as they collected drinking water from small, murky ponds and watched them fill their Jerry Cans from the same place where animals sloshed and women washed their laundry. People here spent hours walking for water that made their kids sick. Their kids constantly complained of stomach aches.
I remember the first time I saw Jean Bosco; I took a photo of him immediately. He was a bashful boy but his face resembled maturity beyond his years. He showed me his home. He walked me along the path he used every day to collect pond water.
Like Jean Bosco, I never knew you could drill a hole into the ground and drinkable water would come spewing out.
I wondered if he’d ever know how many people would recognize his face. Without a clue, this one boy had helped bring clean water to villages all over the world by inspiring others to help.
But I saw this first-hand. The day we arrived in Murinja luckily corresponded with the day a charity: water well was drilled. Jean Bosco and I stood side by side and watched as the drilling rig bore into the earth, finding water 70 feet below. We rejoiced together when clean water gushed out of a new well that was a short walk from his home. We knew then that life for him and his neighbors would never be the same.
I left Murinja unsure if I’d ever see him again. But I couldn’t forget Jean Bosco. I shared his story with charity: water, and they shared his story with the world. Before I knew it, he was famous. His face debuted at the charity: water Saks Fifth Avenue gala and showed up at other fundraising events and exhibitions in NYC. I got calls and emails from people so moved by his story that they sponsored wells, started their own fundraising campaigns or in one instance, named a pet after him (the African Grey Parrot at Sea World is lovingly named “Jean Bosco”).
Jean Bosco’s story offered a sobering look at life for millions of kids in the developing world. But to many, he became a symbol of hope and inspiration. Villages like his don’t have to keep drinking brown pond water. All they need is a little help.
In April 2010, charity: water asked me to return to Rwanda. Anticipation mounted as I took off for Murinja Village with water program director Becky Straw and multimedia producer Mo Scarpelli on a crisp Saturday morning. We passed the murky pond where the community once collected water and children fell in step behind us near the freshwater well. I pulled out a couple of photos from years before and asked if anyone recognized Jean Bosco. They giggled at the sight of their friend -– yes! He was nearby! They could show me.
I heard the familiar seesaw-like sound from the well; kids were pumping away, filling their Jerry cans, and I even recognized a few. I asked if they remembered their well’s drilling or if remembered me. “Last time, my hair was white, like Santa Claus,” I explained. A few laughed and said something in Kinyarwandan. “They say you are the same,” our translator told us. “But your hair was like an old man before, so you are younger now.”
“Jean Bosco!” A chorus of excitement rang out as a slight, graceful boy stepped up a small hill where I stood.
I was taken aback -– Jean Bosco looked the same! He was a little taller but his face was indistinguishable. Becky and Mo recognized him from the six-foot tall photo that hung in the charity: water office, a world away.
I handed him printed photos of himself. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. He hesitated. Then a smile broke out on his face. He reached over — and hugged me. I was flattered and surprised. He remembered me! And he knew why the charity: water well was important to his community.
“We used to get sick,” he told us as his younger brother held tight to his side. “We don’t get sick now.”
“Our stomach pains are gone,” other children chimed in. I scanned the small crowd forming around us and recognized a young woman.
“Clarisse!” She smiled back up at me, bent slightly forward with a new baby on her back. She told us she watched the drilling two years ago while pregnant with her first child. “I knew the water would be safe for my baby,” she told us. “I was relieved.”
We asked her if the new well affected her in other ways.
“Before, I could not get clean,” she told us. “Now, I am shining. I am clean!”
Just two years of clean water transformed this village -– and I got to see it with my own eyes. As I stood with Jean Bosco again near his well before saying goodbye, I wondered if he’d ever know how many people would recognize his face. Without a clue, this one boy had helped bring clean water to villages all over the world by inspiring others to help.
This is why I tell stories, this is why I get close to the people I photograph and this is why I share their heart. Jean Bosco doesn’t yet fully understand the impact of his story. But I’ll keep telling it forever.
Ryan first learned about charity: water after following Instagrammers that were sharing our organization’s mission along with their charity: water campaigns (I love how community grows both organically and digitally — here’s to you, Internet!). He was inspired by our message and our model and boldly decided to take his first step in combating the water crisis by using his 21st birthday to fundraise for clean water.
His campaign concept? A personified Jerry Can.
Ryan is currently advertising his 21st birthday campaign on Instagram (@ryanjaydee) and wants to bring this symbol of the Jerry Can to life. In his words, “If you don’t already know, the Jerry Can is the symbol of charity: water because it represents the people in developing countries that have to carry containers to store their drinking water. When filled up it weighs about 40 pounds. It’s a part of these millions of people’s lives because they have to carry it for long distances to get water for their families. charity: water describes it as a “hope to change” and I completely agree with that. That’s why I want to personify this Jerry can and make people aware of the this problem!“
Ryan, happy 21st birthday! We celebrate you, and we thank you for the impact you’re making in this world.
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.”
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.
