February 2006 Archives

The Arlington Student Government of Arlington High School in St. Paul, Minnesota has launched a fundraising effort to benefit the African Well Fund. The project is called Africa H2O. Throughout the duration of the project, the student government will be selling water bottles for $1 each. All proceeds from the sales will be donated to the African Well Fund. With each purchase of a water bottle, the buyer will get to write their name on a cutout of the continent of Africa. The paper cutouts will be displayed in the Great Hall of Arlington High School to show the support of the school for the community of the world.

There are about 35 students involved in the project. The students began selling water bottles on Feb. 10th and hope to continue through the end of March. The students developed the project because they wanted to do something out of the ordinary to help those who do not enjoy the easy access to clean, safe water that we do. The students chose the African Well Fund as the beneficiary of their fundraising efforts after searching for a non-profit group they could work hands on with.

Check back for updates as the fundraiser progresses. If you are interested in holding an Africa H2O fundraiser in your school, please contact Angela Martens at amartens@africanwellfund.org

Bellingham, Washington Pilates studio owners Maria and Geoffrey Knight, have recently established the Beautiful Day/CoeXisT Fund. All donations to the fund will be split between the African Well Fund and the Keep a Child Alive organization.

Recognizing that a permanent solution to extreme poverty requires policy changes, the Knights have long been volunteers for the ONE campaign. Their studio Pilates of Bellingham has served as a distribution point for ONE campaign information and white bands as well as a place where people can sign on to the campaign. But the Knights decided they also wanted to do more to help with immediate needs in a direct fashion. To this end, the Beautiful Day/CoeXisT fund was started and the African Well Fund and Keep a Child Alive organizations were selected as the recipients of donations to the fund.

The effort will raise money in a variety of ways. The Knights will highlight the “Walk Ten Miles in Her Shoes” campaign by placing penny containers near water sources in their studio. They will offer all clients the opportunity to add $1 or more to their monthly tuition. The money will go directly to the Beautiful Day/CoeXisT fund. At the end of each month, a contributor will be randomly selected to receive a free private Pilates session. Once a quarter, the Knights will select one of their classes at random and everyone’s tuition for that class will be donated to the fund. The Knights have other initiatives planned, including a fun run/walk/cycle in the spring or summer.

The African Well Fund salutes the Knights for their dedication to helping the people of Africa. Their efforts will make a significant difference in the lives of many people in Sub-Saharan Africa. We will offer updates on their initiative in the coming months.

The African Well Fund is excited to announce a t-shirt design contest to help promote our 4th annual “Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday” fundraising campaign. Tagged Design4 : BBW4, the contest requests entrants to design a t-shirt for this year’s fundraiser. The contest runs from February 3 to March 15, 2006. The winning design will be announced on March 22nd, World Water Day and the kickoff of our annual Birthday Well drive.

The African Well Fund is seeking a design that captures our mission, our commitment to the ideal that access to clean water is a basic human right, and also the spirit of Bono’s activism on behalf of Africa, particularly his ability to inspire others to action. For more contest details please visit our webpage: http://africanwellfund.org/D4-BBW4.html. The winning design will be used on t-shirts and other items that will be sold through Café Press. All proceeds from these sales will benefit the Birthday Well fundraiser. A T-shirt with the winning design will be sent to Bono along with the donation totals at the conclusion of the fundraiser.