Strangers Helping Strangers....

First and foremost, THANK YOU for taking the time out of your day to visit my web page and learn about what I am doing.

Nothing makes my heart happier than seeing people help someone they don't even know.

This is my second charity: water campaign. During my first campaign, I focused on educating my family, friends, and acquaintances about the global water crisis and encouraged them to donate.

This time, I am focused on raising money for charity: water by asking strangers to help me in my quest to build a well.

Below, you'll see the letter I wrote for my first charity: water campaign. My thoughts and feelings are the same as they were 4 months ago when I started my involvement with this organization.

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We all have something we wish for. We all have something that we hope will happen. We make wishes when we blow out the candles on our birthday cake. We throw a penny in a fountain and make a wish. We wish on shooting stars. Disney World even has a show called Wishes. We all have a wish or two.

I am wishing for a well.

Why? I'm glad you asked.

Water is a basic necessity that many of us take for granted. We shower, brush our teeth, cook, clean, water our plants, and wash our cars and never think twice about using water.

What if we had to walk several miles to get to a water source and were only able to use what we were able to carry back? What if that water wasn't clean?

1 in 6 people on this planet do not have access to clean water. This is something that breaks my heart. I wasn't even aware of the magnitude of this problem until recently.

Children have to walk for miles to get water and carry it back. This keeps them too busy to go to school. The water that they bring back is often dirty and causes them to get sick. Mothers have to decide the best way to use the water that day. A limited supply makes it difficult to do even the most simple of tasks.

charity: water will use 100% of the funds that we raise to build a well for a village that does not have access to clean water. In about 18 months, we will have the GPS coordinates and pictures of the well that we will help build.

I went to a conference and heard the founder of charity: water, Scott Harrison, speaking about his organization.

He was sharing a story about a woman who lived in a village that had been given a well. The organization had asked her how her life had changed since she now had access to clean water. Her response touched my heart more than I realized. As a mother and wife, she was always taking care of other people. The limited water they had each day went to cooking and cleaning for everyone else.

Since having access to clean water, she was able to bathe and take care of herself too. She said that for the first time in her life, she felt BEAUTIFUL.

You can't even put a price tag on something like that. Giving someone hope, health, a sense of pride in their appearance, and peace of mind is priceless.

I left the conference knowing that I needed to make a difference. After praying about my involvement, I knew that I needed to take on the task of raising money to build a well.

I'm 100% invested in this project. For the entirety of the campaign, I am focused on making this a reality.

I ask that you pray about your involvement as well. You can donate to my campaign, sign up and start your own campaign, or just help spread the word about what I am doing.

Strangers Helping Strangers... It's a beautiful thing!!!

Thank you for taking the time to visit my page and get involved.

With love and appreciation,

Lani Rodriguez