STUTTGART, Germany — They don’t know yet where it will be dug, but soon a well will be built in a poor village someplace on the African continent or in another impoverished corner of the globe.
That is, if a group of Patch High School students can reach their fundraising goal of $5,000, which must be achieved by the end of the school year.
“What we’re trying to do is raise awareness,” said Carissa Carlson, a Patch junior who is spearheading the student-led effort. “Everybody should have clean water, but there are so many people who don’t have what we have.”
On Sunday, Patch students will be hosting a WaterWalk, the culmination of a semester-long push to raise funds. So far, the students have raised about $3,000 through various activities, such as selling T-shirts and cupcakes. The students hope the walk, which includes a $20 registration fee, will carry them to the finish line.
The 5-kilometer walk kicks off at Stuttgart’s Panzer Kaserne at noon and ends at Husky Field on Patch Barracks. The students also will be hosting a post-walk WaterThon — a picnic-style event at Patch Barracks with food, games and amusements.
About 25 students are involved in the well-building initiative, which Carlson learned about through the nonprofit Charity: Water. The charity works with U.S. school groups, which are responsible for raising $5,000 in a semester.
According to Charity: Water, unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are particularly vulnerable. Of the 42,000 deaths that occur around the world each week from dirty water and unhygienic living conditions, 90 percent are under the age of 5, according to the organization.
