I hope this note finds you well. I am writing to you not to reflect on the year that was, but to share a vision of the world that we could help make. A world where everyone has safe access to clean water.
It's hard to think of others suffering right now, typing on my laptop in Starbucks as I check my iPhone and sip on a hot coffee...but the truth is that 800 million people out there don't have drinkable water. Just sit back and think about your average day, and then take out all the water in it...it's not pretty.
The human cost of this situation is staggering:
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 children under five years old.
But it has a financial toll as well. In Africa alone, the overall economic loss due to lack of safe water and sanitation is $28 billion, or about 5% of GDP. For water.
This isn't something we can't comprehend. That we don't understand. That we can't fix.
I have found an organization called Charity:Water that donates 100% of every dollar spent to give water. They are a top-notch not-for-profit organization, and I have chosen them to be the partner for this 72-hour sprint effort.
You can learn more about the goal and how you can help, in less than sixty seconds, by visiting this webpage below:
http://bit.ly/givewaterbefore2013
Please pass this message on to anyone else you think can help!
Thanks so much,
Patrick