Walking for water
Where there’s a will—and a lack of water—there’s a way
Over the past year, 200,000 young people across Canada took part in the WE Walk for Water fundraising initiative to help raise money for clean, drinkable water in developing communities around the globe. Their efforts are changing lives—one cup of water at a time.
In May, students at Spencer Middle School in Victoria, BC, staged a friendly competition to see which of the classes in their school could raise the most money. The class that won attended the inaugural WE Walk for Water event at the British Columbia Legislature, where they carried repurposed orange juice containers. In June, students in Rideau Park School, Calgary, spent a day walking with backpacks filled with bottled water to raise funds for all those around the world who must trek for miles each day to fetch water.
At Sinclair Secondary School in Whitby, ON, 500 high school students raised nearly $5,000 by staging a fun walk that included games like human tic-tac-toe and bean bag races.
Members of the school’s Youth In Action club led the charge, and on a cool afternoon in April, they transformed the student parking lot into various activity stations to help students learn about the importance of access to clean water. Students had to raise a minimum of $5 to participate, but many raised far more.
“The main thing that made this fundraiser so successful was that the whole school was involved,” said 17-year-old Maryam Rehman, one of the club’s leaders.
A month later, in the tiny town of Bruxelles, MB, the 40 students of Ste. Marie School, ranging from kindergarten to grade 8, also staged a campaign. They carried 10 per cent of their body weight on a seven-mile trek to the neighbouring town of Saint Alphonse.
It was only their second year as a WE School, and fundraising had its own set of challenges. Students are bussed in from nearby farming towns, and many come from families that don’t always have a lot of money to spare. A challenge where parents could support their kids by directly sponsoring their walks seemed like the perfect way to get everyone excited about participating.
It worked. The school exceeded its goal of $1,000.
“When I told my students that, they were just blown away,” said Ryan Vipond, part-time principal and teacher at Ste. Marie at the time. “They loved that they’re so small but made such a big impact. They were very proud.”
These are just a small fraction of the 2,000 schools and groups that helped 40,000 people gain access to clean water this year alone. And every $25 raised from a walk can add one more person to that number. Learn how you can take part in the next WE Walk for Water on May 10, 2019, at WE.org/wewalkforwater.