Water for People: We CAN Change That

Fill in the blank: If only I had an extra hour or two in the day, I would _________________.

How many of you said: “Bring clean water home to my family”?

I’m willing to guess, not one of you! At times, we’ve all felt there aren’t enough hours in the day to get more work done…spend time with family…exercise…have cultural experiences…to do things that can enhance our lives. But in far too many communities in our world, people – especially women and girls – invest an average of four hours or more a day retrieving water. And this is water for essential life needs…there’s no car-washing or goldfish tank filling going on in these scenarios.

April marks the annual, month-long fundraising and awareness campaign at American Water to support Water for People, an amazing organization fulfilling a mission to assure safe, continuous water for everyone, forever. This year, the organization is rallying people everywhere to ‘Change That.’ This call to action runs much deeper than raising money so girls in poor villages can go to school instead of haul water – what Water for People calls us to change is THE GAME. They recognize that there is no quick fix to the world’s water “inequality.” Instead, access to water for everyone forever, requires society to make changes to constantly be aware, improve strategies, forge partnership and invest resources.

Put another way: When one person or one family has clean, accessible water, their lives are changed. But when entire communities, regions or countries have water, the world is changed. This is what ‘Change That’ is all about – and it gives everyone a wonderful opportunity to do their part.

You can join us in the 2014 Water for People effort throughout the month of April by:

• Helping grow awareness on social media using the hashtag #ChangeThat
• Participating yourself in the dialogues on Facebook and Twitter
• Supporting fundraising efforts with a donation to Water for People, www.waterforpeople.org/changethat
• Learning more about Taking Action with Water for People to determine how you might like to get involved in support for the mission.

Without needing an extra hour or even a minute in the day, together we can ‘Change That’ – and continue to build a world where all people have access to our most precious resource.