Karl's Run For Clean Water

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for taking the time to visit my campaign page. I also invite you to explore the other tabs on the charity: water website. In doing so, I am sure that you will find it as inspiring as some of the other charity organizations you may have worked with in the past.

Some of you may know that distance running is one of my hobbies. I wouldn't say that I am as addicted as some of my friends who think nothing of running 6 or more marathons a year, but I do run one or two a year since I began distance running about 3 years ago. It's challenging and the desert heat can be relentless when training in Phoenix during the summer. So earlier this year, during one of my training runs, I thought to myself, "Imagine trying to do all this training without clean water."

Well, guess what? Every week, millions of women and their children walk more than 14 miles just to get water for their families. Most of this water is contaminated, but it's the only water they have. They take the chance of catching diseases like bilharzia and schistosomiasis (parasites) - with every sip. There's nothing they can do to change it.

So, what can I do?

On December 6th, I am running in the Las Vegas Rock N Roll Marathon. My goal is to raise $5,000 for clean water. I want every step to matter. The idea is for me to do the miles so these women and children don't have to. I would like to ask you to be a part of this effort. Here is the really good news. Because of charity: water's unique model, 100% of all donations go directly to water projects, and each donation is "proved" when projects are complete. A $20 donation will provide clean water for one person for twenty years. My goal is to raise $5,000 in the next three months. This would be enough to dig a well that would provide water for a community of 250 people!!

Think about that for a minute. When someone asks you what you did in 2009 that was especially gratifying, you can tell them that among other things, you played an important part in bringing clean, fresh water to a village that would have never otherwise gotten it and this helped to significantly reduce the incidence of serious waterborne diseases. I hope you'll join me in helping them now. Remember, $20 is all it takes to change someone's life. How many lives will you change today? Thank you for your support!!

Karl