LAHS Key Club President Ming-Yuan Lo presents a check for $1,000 recently to Lt. Gov. Adeline Feng of the Southwest District’s Sangre de Cristo Division. Courtesy photo

BY MORRIE PONGRATZ
Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos

Millions of people worldwide are without clean, fresh drinking water. The Thirst Project is a nonprofit organization that works with the support of young people to end the global water crisis by building freshwater wells in developing communities that need safe, clean drinking water.

Why Water? Health and Sanitation: Waterborne diseases are responsible for more easily preventable young deaths a year than HIV, Malaria, and all world violence combined. Small children typically do not have strong enough immune systems to fight diseases like cholera, dysentery, or schistosomiasis. If we achieve universal access to clean water and sanitation and hygiene, we could reduce the global disease burden by 10 percent.

In his September Governor’s statement, Danny Robaina, the Governor for the Southwest District of Key Club International, challenged Key Clubbers to raise money for the Key Club International partner, the Thirst Project. The goal was to have every member of the Southwest District raise enough money ($25) to provide one person with clean water for life.

The Los Alamos High School (LAHS) Key Club took up the challenge and decided to contribute some of the money they raised selling cotton candy at the Summer Concerts at Ashley Pond. The club recently sent a check for $1,000 to the Thirst project. This was in addition to an earlier $500 donation they made. In total, the more than 40 members of the LAHS Key Club donated enough to provide clean water for life for 60 people!