12 People

I don’t know why I get so excited about this.

But I lose more sleep over than anything else we do.

And it’s simply an opportunity for monthly recurring giving.

Giving people an opportunity to easily give $20 (or other amount) a month to clean water.

I don’t know why.

But this just makes sense to me. And I toss and turn.

We decided to do it last year after the Christmas effort ended and people were asking, “what’s next?” “What can we do now?”

None of us had any idea going into last year just how much water would change us. How we were not going to be able to let it go.

And so we developed a monthly giving program (300 Voices) to essentially give people a way to keep water on their hearts throughout the year. To further our commitment and resolve. And prepare a team of Water advocates for the next Christmas season.

I do believe in many respects, it was successful. Our hearts follow our treasure. And many (most) of our Voices (monthly givers) were leaders in the Christmas effort…raising their Voice and inspiring their friends and family in their own part of the country. Not to mention the thousands of people who were given clean water from the monthly giving.

So we’re doing it again… 12 People.



This is your invite.

Your invite to change the lives of 12 people. (Or 24. Or 36.)

Through $20.

One $20 dollar bill a month.

It’s so simple. With a paypal account, it takes maybe 2 minutes.

$20 (or other amount) will be automatically deducted each month.

BUT what we don’t want you to forget is what that represents. What exactly that means.

12 people.

12 real people.

The faces behind the image above are all people in LIberia who were given the gift of clean water this year.

For each person who signs up, it’s 12 more faces.

12 more people.

This is a small sacrifice for most of us.

But huge impact. Life changing for 12 people.

This makes sense to me.

SO let’s do this–just because I like to do things together. (I don’t know… I just do.)–

Think about it. Consider joining us. Talk to your spouse. Blog about it. Email or see if you can rally one other person to join us who wouldn’t otherwise know about the opportunity.

(For those of you without paypal accounts, who still want to join us in this effort–you can:
*make a one-time donation with a credit card here ($240 is equal to a year of monthly giving)
*mail in a check each month to the address listed here–checks are made payable to charity: water with Water For Christmas in the memo line).

This is one of those things that shows the power of a team, the power of people coming together to do something…a simple gift each month.

A gift that changes lives.

$20/month. 12 people.

“When the story of these times gets written, we want it to say that we did all we could, and it was more than anyone could have imagined.” (Bono)

Ready?

Numbers (as of Dec. 31, 2009):
In the 14 months that Water For Christmas has been in existence, the total of money raised is $275,000.
Which amounts to $650 dollars a day for 14 months.
In just November and December of 2009: $175,000.
That is equal to 55 community wells.
The total can and will solve very close to 1% of Liberia’s water crisis. (that’s more amazing than it sounds. Yes, we still have work to do…)
And these are my favorite:
That’s 13,750 people.
32 people a day for the last 14 months have received the life-changing gift of clean water.
How did this happen?
Because you all acted. You all allowed your heart to break and your hands to move. You raised your voices with us. You held your resources in generous, open hands. You rallied your friends and family. You spoke. You gave. You changed the world for 13,750 people.
This is amazing. We thank God for allowing us to be a part of His heart.
And more than ever, I feel like we are only at the tip of the iceberg. That it goes to show that we do not need titles or positions or large resources to do something. That we can come together to dream dreams of compassion. We can collectively raise our voice, combine our efforts. We can join together as mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters in America to fight and change the reality for mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters across the ocean. There is power not in celebrity and economic status and prestige…but in passion. You have taught me that.
And I cannot wait to see where 2010 takes us.
It’s funny because I was talking to a friend about needing to get myself some marketable skills. I was thinking perhaps at some point I would need to get a paying job and I’m not exactly sure what skills I have. This friend suggested, “Well, you could do fundraising.”
My response: “Oh my gosh, NO! I would HATE that. That is probably the job I would dislike most in the world.”
Her response: “Oh. Isn’t that what you do now? What you spend 40 hours a week doing already?”
Me: “Um. No….Um. I guess. Geez.”
I have never thought about it that way. Honestly never occurred to me in the last 14 months that we were ‘fundraising’. It has always been about clean water. About wanting to see that mothers around the world do not bury their children due to contaminated water when clean water waits beneath the surface. And it just so happens the way to help them is to fund the drilling of wells. That is what they needed. And that’s what we do.
It’s not about fundraising.
It’s about water.
It’s about making right what is wrong.