Students provide clean water to those in need

Kids raise $5K to help fight the water crisis

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A lack of access to clean water is creating economic, social, educational and life threatening conditions in schools and communities in developing countries throughout the world.

Students from St. Christopher School in Baldwin are combating the crisis by raising money for those affected. They walked on Friday for the H2O for Life Walk for Water fundraiser. The kids took pledges from the community and raised $5,000, which exceeded their goal by $700.

Sixth, seventh and eighth graders walked 3 miles carrying 6 liters of water in their backpacks to simulate the average distance people in developing countries have to walk in order to get clean water.

Before the walk started, Father Brandon O’Brien said a prayer and gave his blessing to the students for raising awareness to help others in developing countries.

H2O for Life provides a global partner school connection as students learn about the issues surrounding the water crisis. St. Christopher School has partnered with Ecole Mixte Action Fraternelle in Haiti to raise funds to help bring clean water and sanitation to the facility.

“We want our students to know that by working together we can make a difference in the world,” said Anne Lederer, principal of St. Christopher School. “We hope that all students in our school will benefit from our partnership with H2O for Life and will think about their own habits concerning water usage.”

Students said they were proud to be helping people in Haiti and hope more schools on Long Island will participate in raising awareness on the water crisis in developing countries.

“We take advantage of clean water in America all the time, but in Haiti it’s like getting gold,” said one of the students participating in the walk.

H2O for Life is a non-profit organization that supports WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene education) projects in needy schools around the world. The organization helps teachers and students make a difference one school at a time.