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.
This September Campaign is about passionate, creative and goofy fundraisers doing everything they can to bring clean water to 50,000 people in need… and you better believe that the charity: water team is getting in on the action.
This month, our staff and interns are walking the #nothingiscrazy talk and doing everything they can to raise money for clean water. Walking to work with Jerry Cans, taking pies to the face, dancing on the subway, skiing in bikinis… the list goes on.
And it gets better.
We’ve set our own goal: to raise $200,000 (with the match!) and bring clean water to more than 6,600 people. But some of our braver staff have also agreed to randomly draw challenges from a hat. So if we reach our $200,000 goal, the following people will be doing the following crazy things:
Kaitlyn S: 24 hours of reggae dancing Kathleen: eat at every $1 pizza place in Manhattan Sarah: propose to strangers on the street with balloons Christina: cook dinner for the staff Makena: play mixologist at an office party Jordan: come to work in the summer wearing winter clothing Sabrina: sky dive Nitya: travel only by bike for a week Gumbley: one day in a banana suit Broc: host a party with free foot rubs Tyler: run to work in undies Lauren: shave part of head Vik: get a charity: water tattoo Carlos: toga for a week Dan: run a marathon
You can help us hit our goal and witness our staff embarrassing themselves in a follow-up blog post! Donate to our group or individual fundraising campaigns right now.
Every $30 donation will bring clean water to one person — and our staff just a little bit closer to total public humiliation.
On September 1st, you set out on an exhilarating journey. A journey that took you on marathon runs through Chicago, on swims across the freezing cold San Francisco Bay, on tours of every $1 pizza place in Manhattan, and even up and down (and up and down and up and down) escalators in crowded malls in Atlanta while carrying 5 gallon yellow Jerry Cans. All to bring clean water to 50,000 people in need.
Well guess what?
You did it!
More than 1,800 of you joined our 2015 September Campaign. You climbed mountains. You polar-plunged. You showed the world that #nothingiscrazy when it comes to raising money for clean water.
And together, you changed the lives of more than 50,000 people in need.
This September proved that you don’t have to be the richest or the most famous to make a difference. Amazing, innovative, and goofy campaigners like Brady Phelps (aka Pancake Dad) raised nearly $40,000 by making pancakes in the shape of everything from Cinderella to President Obama.
These aren’t the faces you see flashing across your television screen or on the covers of magazines, but they are the faces we see when we think about someone drinking clean and safe water for the first time. And we couldn’t be more proud.
The best news: it’s doesn’t have to be over!
Every September Campaign stays open through the end of the year. Meaning you can keep riding, training, and fundraising to bring clean water to even more people in need.
You blew us away with how quickly you reached 50,000 people served. Blow us away by serving even more. The craziest thing we can do is nothing.
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.”
Tariku is a 9 year old stud who has been supporting charity: water for more than half of his life. He gave up his 5th, 7th and 9th birthdays to help fund water projects for people in need and has raised more than $20,000 so far.
His story is different than most. Tariku spent the first four years of his life in Ethiopia. He experienced firsthand what it’s like to walk for and collect dirty water, and he saw waterborne diseases from that dirty water claim the life of his younger brother. When he was adopted by his incredible parents in 2010, he had parasites in his blood, too. But clean water and access to medication quickly solved that problem.
In talking to him, it’s immediately clear that the first half of his story fuels his passion to make a difference — especially for children.
“I told people it’s fun to help kids in Africa! You can see the joy in their faces. And you can see when they get happy.”
But here’s what you really need to know about Tariku: It doesn’t stop with clean water.
His desire to give and to make the world a better place knows no ends. And that’s the second half of his story. A half that I imagine is destined for an epic future.
T (as I call him now that we’re friends) recently visited our office. In sitting down with him, he talked about donating clothes to people in need, helping the poor in his community and inspiring his fellow third graders to give. It was a recurring theme… again and again he stated, “It’s fun to give!”
When I asked why he thinks giving is important, he very simply said:
“It’s important to give money! If I had a million dollars, I’d give it to the poor people that live close to downtown. One day, my mom and dad and me took sandwiches to people and gave them to them, and they were happy.“
Soft-spoken and always smiling, he’s just one of the kindest and most impressive kids we know. It’s hard to believe a heart so big can live in that little body. T has inspired all of us at charity: water, and we hope he inspires you too.
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.”
Over the years, thousands of people have started their own fundraising campaigns for charity: water. People have biked, swam, hosted concerts, run marathons, given up their birthdays, and more – all to help us bring clean water to people in need.
You would think we have seen it all. But time and time again, we are constantly blown away by the support of our fundraisers.
Especially when those fundraisers are half our size.
Who would have thought the smallest kids could have the biggest hearts. Here are five of our favorite world-changers fundraising for clean water today.
1. Cosette’s Paintings with a Purpose
One of our favorite fundraisers joined the charity: water family before most kids can even talk. Cosette Swart was only 3 years old when she learned that many people don’t have enough food or water to live. Wanting to do something about this, she started selling her paintings to raise money.
Cosette is now 5 years old and has raised over $6,000 for charity: water through paintings alone! She’s currently running her third fundraising campaign and is still going strong.
Two Youth Groups from St. Joseph’s Church in Penfield and Fairport United Methodist Church have combined forces once again this year for their second fundraising campaign for clean water.
They’ve hosted multiple events to raise awareness about the global water crisis over the past few years. So far, they’ve brought clean water to nearly 100 people in need! And they’re just getting started.
Arav is one of the most dedicated and passionate kids we’ve ever met. He first gave up his 6th birthday two years ago and raised over $3,000 to bring clean water to over 100 people.
He’s given up his birthday every year since then, and today, he’s raised over $8,000 for clean water.
That’s more than 260 people who no longer have to worry about getting sick from drinking dirty water – thanks to the big heart of small 8-year-old boy.
Three teenagers from Martin County, Florida (collectively known as Students4H2O) are on a mission to trade Jerry Cans for backpacks.
They want to fund an entire water project for a community in need so that kids no longer have to spend their days walking for water, but can instead get an education at school.
So far, they’ve led a number of initiatives to raise awareness and funds for clean water, including their very own Water Fest – featuring music, contests, face paintings, and a bounce house.
They’re currently only $1,500 away from their goal of $10,000, and we can’t wait to see them reach it!
After reaching their goal of $10,000 in just one night after asking for donations instead of gifts at her Bat Mitzvah, Anna and her friend Liv (who also gave up her birthday for clean water), have decided to raise their fundraising goal to $20,000!
They did their own research on the water crisis, chose to support charity: water, and started a club at school.
“We are the only two members of our club – we’re the Co-Founders and CEOs. But we don’t necessarily need any more members - too many people can mean too many opinions.”
Vanessa has been a friend to the organization for many years. From helping us mail out thank you notes and volunteering at our gala to fundraising for clean water, she makes our work possible in every capacity. And it was only fitting that she joined in on this year’s September Campaign!
Since she’s never ran a race past 2 miles, she started training back in July to prepare herself for this year’s campaign (which she’s been blogging about). Her idea was to push herself out of her comfort zone both personally and with her fundraising by running towards a $5,000 goal.
She’s currently 35% of the way to her goal, and she’s not stopping anytime soon!
If you see her running along the Hudson River, which is her absolute favorite spot to run, make sure to say hello. Vanessa hopes to trace the outline of lower Manhattan once her mileage is high enough, and we can’t wait to see her run her half in a few weeks!
I opened my newspaper on the airplane — scanning the weather section. I knew that India was supposed to be hot, but I hadn’t given much thought to HOW hot. I don’t remember what it said… 109? Maybe 114. What I do recall, is that on that day, India was going to be the hottest place in the world.
Strong start to the trip.
The good news is that I wasn’t alone. There were seven of us headed into that oven — Jamie, Vik, Melissa, Cubby and myself from our team, plus a guest videographer (Paul Pryor) and photographer (Jeremy Snell) — looking to capture stories about clean water in India for our upcoming September Campaign (which you’ll be seeing in the next few weeks).
charity: water has funded water projects in India since 2008, but this will be our biggest effort to date, and we wanted to be able to showcase what that work will look like. We spent two weeks with our partner, Gram Vikas, in Orissa visiting different villages — some that have received clean water (where we could see the impact) and some that have not (where we could see the need).
It was an incredible trip. We slept on a church floor in a mountain village, chased children in the rain, ate the best mango of our lives, ruined some clothing with sweat stains, used our hands as eating utensils and forced ourselves to survive with very limited internet access.
We’ll be sharing lots of stories in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, I wanted to share some of our takeaways.
10 Things We Learned in India
1. It’s ridiculously hot in June
That’s Vik’s back covered in sweat. And you can’t tell but my shirt looks like I wore it into the pool.
2. If it’s dark, bring a flashlight
When you’re regularly coming across scorpions in the road, you don’t wear flip flops in the dark.
3. Photo assistants aren’t hard to find
Jeremy somehow recruited a group of helpers everywhere we went.
4. Curry never gets old
And frankly, neither does eating with your hands. How do you say “Clean Plate Club” in Oriya?
5. Melissa and Jamie love animals
It didn’t end with chicks and cows either. You name it, they nuzzled it.
6. You’re gonna get some hop-ons
Let’s just say that I’m not complaining about rush hour on the subway anymore.
7. You can’t take yourself too seriously
I’m paying tribute to my new favorite soda: “Thumbs Up.” Vik is fighting crime with a microphone.
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.
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.
