There are 663 million people on this planet who don’t have access to life’s most basic need….water.

When people don’t have access to clean water, they drink disease-filled water instead. They don’t have a choice.

And how do they get it? They walk for it. Mostly, the job falls to women and children, who might walk up to four hours a day to collect dirty water. That’s time they can’t spend caring for their families, earning income, or learning in school.

When a community gets clean water, lots can change. It can improve health, decrease medical expenses, increase equality, give girls more time in school, and give women the chance to grow food or earn income.

charity: water is on a mission to make sure that happens. They’ve funded more than 16,000 water projects in 24 countries, bringing clean water to 5.2 million people so far. And they’re just getting started, but they need your help.

Lite Rock 97.3’s Josh Martin is raising money through October 2nd to help in funding fresh water well projects for the many villages in need. A simple gift of $20 can provide one person with access to a clean water project in their village. Will you help?

100% of all donations directly fund water project costs, and every project built is proved using photos and GPS coordinates on Google Maps.

Let some Finger Lakes love be felt in a village or villages around the world.  Please donate to Josh’s charity: water campaign page.

Other statistics:

Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.

90% of the 30,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are in children under five years old.

The WHO reports that over 3.6% of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply, sanitation, and hygiene.

In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year walking for water. Women and children usually bear the burden of water collection, walking miles to the nearest source, which is unprotected and likely contaminated.

Clean water alone can reduce water-related deaths by 21%

Sanitation alone can reduce water-related deaths by 37.5%

Hand washing alone can reduce water-related deaths by 35%

Every $1 invested in improved water supply and sanitation can yield from $4 to $12 for the local economy, depending on the type of project.