Campaigning for cleaner water

Freshman Cassie Foster is on a mission to save lives with the simple gift of clean water. She is campaigning with CauseLife, an organization which partners to bring clean water to developing countries. Her goal is to raise $15,000 to fund two wells in Kenya and one in Guatemala. To date, she has raised $13,288.

According to CauseLife statistics, more than one billion people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water. The global water crisis claims the lives of two million people each year, and the majority of them are children. Each day, 6,000 children — the number of 20 filled jumbo jets — die from water-borne illnesses like cholera, malaria and diarrhea, according to CauseLife.

Foster’s journey in ending the global water crisis began two years ago. Her desire to provide clean water stemmed from a trip her father took to Haiti just days after the January 2010 earthquake.

“When my father returned, he was a completely different person. He had a passion in him I had never seen before, a passion that I wanted so very badly. That pushed me to get involved with CauseLife,” she said.

The organization works to supply clean water to desperate communities around the world by joining with advocates to raise awareness about the necessity of clean water for health. Through personalized online platforms called “mycause,” CauseLife offers individuals unique fundraising opportunities that are easy to share through venues like social media.

“ … CauseLife gives you the opportunity to use your voice to make an impact and to literally save lives,” CauseLife Assistant Director Rachel Kolb said.

Foster’s decision to become involved in this campaign came after visiting Guatemala and witnessing firsthand the difference clean water was making through CauseLife wells. She traveled to a village that was overflowing with people when she arrived. It was previously under-populated, but had experienced an influx of people who had learned about a clean water well that had been drilled through CauseLife. These villagers had migrated so that their families and livestock could simply survive.

“I wanted to be a part of making that difference,” Foster said.

Soon after, she began fundraising by selling custom-designed CauseLife bracelets and speaking publicly at various events.

On the first day of her campaign, she set up a booth in the Vines Center where she sold her bracelets during convocation. In an address that day to the student body, World Help Founder and President Vernon Brewer mentioned Foster’s cause, which triggered an overwhelming response from the students, Foster said.

“I was expecting (to raise) maybe $100 or $200. On that day alone, we raised almost $3,000,” she said.

Although her efforts have seen tremendous results, Foster said she has also faced times of discouragement and doubt.

“I had fundraising opportunities that had major setbacks, leaders that ran short on time and couldn’t mention us (during events) and times where we just did not sell any bracelets or raise any money for weeks … ” she said. “At many points, I just wanted to quit and give up.”

As she nears her goal, Foster is confident that her decision to partner with the organization will produce the difference she set out to make.

“When I think of CauseLife, I think of all the children who were and are orphaned, sick and frail (that) now have a chance to have a healthy life,” she said. “With clean water, we can dramatically change … lives forever,” she said.