Charity Water: A Non-Profit Making an Impact

Written by Lauren Buser Media by Miguel Fabela.

Charity Water is a non-profit organization that works to provide clean water for as many people as possible around the world. Their belief is that clean water can change everything!

The Water Crisis

According to this organization, 663 million people in the world live without clean water. They know by providing clean water to these areas of the world, they can reduce disease, help kids attend school, give more time to families, and give women the power to do other things besides collect water. The organization works with community members to find the most efficient way to get them clean water. They know water can help individuals regain their lives and change their world.

About the Team

The founder, Scott Harrison, was born in Philadelphia to a middle-class family. At age four, he witnessed his mother pass out suddenly in his new home. They found large amounts of carbon monoxide in his mother’s blood stream. Thankfully, she did not die, but her immune system was harmed. Mr. Harrison, being young, did not understand that his mother was now allergic to almost everything. He remembers people thinking she was crazy when, in fact, this was not the case. She was allergic to everything from the sun to the electromagnetic radiation from radios and televisions.

Harrison left his family and took up drinking. “I realized I was the worst person I knew,” states Harrison. He became a club promoter in New York at a young age. Realizing he was spiritually bankrupt, he decided to devote a full year of his life to serving others. Every humanitarian program that he applied for turned him down, except for one, which offered him a spot if he paid $500 a month.

He took the position as a photojournalist for the program, photographing facial deformities in Liberia, Africa. “It was really tough knowing we had only 1500 surgery slots and 7000 people waiting and hoping,” Harrison admits. He met a man who was there helping these people tap into the clean groundwater just 40 feet beneath them. This man explained to Harrison how dirty water was one of the reasons such tumors have grown on these people causing them to need surgeries.  This is how Harrison made the decision to start Charity: Water.

What can YOU do?

Charity: Water is an awesome organization with a great mission and story. Make sure to check out their website for information on Careers and Internships. Also, Purchase with Purpose is a shop that Charity:  Water created for people to donate to the cause.  You can donate by purchasing items like T-shirts, bracelets, cups, and more!