Right now, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s one in eight of us.
I had no idea. How could this be? But that startling statistic is true, and when I found out, I had to help. And you can, too, by donating to charity:water.
charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Every dollar that you donate goes to directly fund water projects, and to help in this pursuit, I'm launching The Twelve Days of Giving. From Dec. 1st-12th, I'm hoping to raise $5000, enough to build a well that will bring clean water to 250 needy people. Every dollar helps; just $20 will provide one person clean water for 20 years. And to thank you, I'm giving away one prize each day to a person who donated, a small token of my gratitude. The grand prize is a ticket to join me at the annual charity: ball, held on Dec. 13th in NYC.
So this Holiday season, I'm hoping you'll take a moment to join me in this cause and help provide some support to those who need it most. Thank you for helping me change lives.
Learn more: About charity: water / Why water?
The Twelve Days of Giving
Dec 1, 2010
HURRAH!
I don't know what else to say. I'm elated, humbled, and literally in tears of gratitude for all of you who have embraced my little holiday project so warmly. In case you hadn't seen, we met our goal.
IN FIFTEEN MINUTES.
A donor who wishes to remain anonymous pledged $4950 to make sure we accomplished what we - now together! - set out to do: build a well in a village to bring water to 250 people. And we did. The generosity moved me to tears when I saw it - I had the charity: water crew verify that it was real (it is!) - and I'm still just walking in a daze, so very, very proud & gracious for all of you who have donated, shared the message, and helped.
I went back and forth on raising the goal to $10,000 - two wells are better than one, right? - but didn't want to lessen the impact or dilute the intention of the donor, to ensure that we hit the goal. So I'm keeping it, officially, at $5000. But please, we've all seen what we can do in such a short amount of time, let's see what 11 1/2 more days brings us. This campaign has only just begun, and I know that together, we can double or even triple the results.
So yes, I'm literally jumping for joy. You - all of you - have made me so proud of this tech industry that (many of us) work in, so proud of the power of social media, so humbled to see the impact we can make. Thank you, and let's keep going.
