April 2009 Archives

The African Well Fund is capping off its seventh annual Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser by auctioning two pairs of general admission tickets for the upcoming U2 360° Tour through our eBay page. The first pair of tickets is for Sept. 12 at Chicago's Soldier Field, the first North American date of the tour. The second pair is for Oct. 29 at Vancouver's BC Place Stadium, the final date of the tour.

The Chicago tickets will be up for bid from this Friday, May 1 through next Friday, May 8. The Vancouver tickets will be up for bid from this Saturday, May 2 through next Saturday, May 9. Bids for both pair of tickets will start at $140. Results of both auctions will be announced on the AWF homepage on May 10, Bono's birthday.

AWF held two auctions in March for the Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser. In honor of Adam Clayton's March 13 birthday, an "Under the Blood Red Sky" reissue CD/DVD signed by Bono, Edge and Adam was auctioned for a winning bid of $449. An anonymous supporter donated a "Joshua Tree" LP signed by Bono, Edge and Adam that fetched $610.

Funds raised from the auctions and donations will benefit the Build a Well for Bono's Birthday project in Liberia. Learn more about the project here.

AWF will be collecting donations for this fundraiser through Bono's May 10 birthday. To make a donation or learn more about Build a Well for Bono's Birthday, click here. All donors are invited to add their names and greetings to a card that will be sent to Bono via Principle Management, which can be accessed here.

Seventh graders at North Middle School in Belleville, Mich., are again raising money for the African Well Fund. After raising $7,700 for AWF last year, the students have set a goal of raising $5,500 before May 9 to benefit a water project at a school in Uganda. The seventh graders have so far raised almost $2,500.

The seventh grade students, teachers and parent teacher organization (PTO) at NMS are doing several things to raise money. This coming Thursday, April 30, they are hosting a spaghetti dinner at the school from 5:30-7 p.m. The cost is a minimum $3 donation per person, which includes spaghetti with your choice of sauce, salad, roll, dessert and water to drink. The NMS choir and band will be performing African-themed music and there will be African-inspired poetry and art on display. Raffles will also be held during the dinner.

On Saturday, May 2 from 8:30-10:30 p.m., NMS students are going to be bowling to raise money. Students will pay a small fee to Lodge Lanes, a bowling alley in Belleville, to bowl. Students are seeking sponsors willing to donate money for their efforts in order to participate. Donations can be a flat donation or a per-pin donation. This event is being sponsored by NMS PTO with help from parents and teachers.

The NMS seventh grade band is holding a "Guitar Hero" contest to raise money for the well. Students will pay $2 to participate, with $1 from each participant going toward the fundraiser.

For more information on the North Middle School fundraiser, click here.

North Middle School's fundraiser is part of AWF's newest project which will construct water and sanitation systems at 17 schools in Uganda. To learn more about this project, including how your school or group can take part, click here.

With 17 days to go in this year's Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser, African Well Fund is honored to be featured in a news story on the U2.com homepage. For a grassroots organization like AWF, exposure on an internationally viewed Web site is invaluable and will help to make this year's fundraising campaign a resounding success.

Donations from U2 fans around the world have totaled $15,051.14 thus far, which is half way toward the $30,000 needed to fully fund the project to increase access to safe drinking water for seven communities in the Yarwein Mehnsonnoh and Zoe-Geh districts of Liberia. The project, implemented by our partner Africare, will provide clean drinking water to nearly 7,000 people. Additionally, Africare's program will recruit youth in the communities to be trained in health and hygiene promotion. Learn more about the project here.

Please consider making a donation to this year's campaign today in whatever amount you can give. Your contributions will make a huge impact on so many lives and are greatly appreciated. You can learn more about Build a Well for Bono's Birthday, including how to donate, here.

The African Well Fund is looking for sponsors to help construct water and sanitation projects at 17 schools in the Ntungamo district of Uganda. We are looking for groups--schools, churches, businesses or groups of friends--who would like to fundraise in support of one of the schools. The project will construct pumps, rain water collection tanks and latrines at each of the schools. Additionally, water user committees will be formed and trained to ensure sustainability of the project. Increasing the availability of safe water and improved sanitation facilities at these schools will not only help to improve the health of the students and teachers, it will also help to increase school attendance and student retention.

This project is ideal for groups or individuals who want to fundraise in support of a specific project and have a direct impact on the lives of those in need. The fundraising goal is $5,500 per school, but any portion of that amount will make a significant difference in the lives of so many.

For more information about the project, including how your group can participate, please e-mail info@africanwellfund.org.

African Well Fund will be featured as the Charity of the Day on GoodSearch.com and GoodShop.com on April 6.

Remember to use GoodSearch.com, the Yahoo-powered search engine, for all of your Web searches and we'll receive a penny every time you do a search.

And, please do all of your online shopping through GoodShop.com where a percentage of each order will be donated to us (you don't pay anything extra). Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Best Buy, Macys and others have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you'll be supporting us.

Don't forget that you can use GoodSearch and GoodShop every day, but be sure to check us out on their homepages on April 6.