CharityWater.org, BB’s Clean Water for Christmas #4 and our Thanksgiving Pig

CharityWater.org and BB’s Clean Water for Christmas #4 and our Thanksgiving Pig…

The marvel about kids is their ability to take complicated concepts and simplify them with their innate inspiration and cut-to-the quick solutions.

Or in this case, drill-to-the-quick solution- for water.

I am honored to introduce, or to some re-introduce you to Bridger Anderson, a 10-year old boy from North Dakota who has given up birthday gifts and Christmas gifts for 4 years to raise money to support life-giving water sources through CharityWater.org. These are Bridger’s own words:

Hi, I’m Bridger! I’m 10 years old and in the 5th grade. This is my fourth year giving up Christmas presents for Clean Water. Instead of video games and new books, I want to raise $10,000 for families in Cambodia or Ethiopia.

Why $10,000? That seems like a lot of money. IT IS A LOT OF MONEY! $10,000 will sponsor a water well and fund sanitation and hygiene in those communities, which will increase the health benefits and lead to a longer-lasting project. Costs from these wells have gone up in the past few years that I’ve been campaigning.

About me:

My Family: I have a mom and dad, 2 sisters, an older brother, a twin brother, and a little foster sister. Also, 2 dogs, 3 cats, and 3 chickens.

I Like: scorpions and dragons.

My Favorite Things To Do: write, draw and read.

When I Grow Up, I’m Going To: be an author and/or artist. I’m going to travel a lot and meet all different types of people.

Countries I’ve Sponsored Wells In: Ethiopia {2010} and Rwanda {2012}!

**Christmas is a time for family, celebration and love.**

It’s also a time when America spends around $500 billion on Christmas gifts. That’s more than $600 per person. This Christmas, I’m taking a step back — I want to give more than gifts that fit in boxes.

I want kids to be able to be kids and not worry about providing their families with clean water. They should be going to school and learning like me.

800 million people are living without clean drinking water on our planet. Some walk miles every day to get to the nearest source: a stagnant, parasite-infested stream or pond.

My mission is to give clean water for Christmas this year. 100% of every dollar I raise will go directly to water projects. And when the projects are complete, charity: water will show us GPS coordinates, photos and other details about the communities we’ve helped.

Please make this the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER by donating to my clean water project! Just $20 can give one person clean water!

———————————–

I know Bridger through his Mom, Melissa Anderson, of Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. As many of us are in this new world, Melissa and I are virtual friends! It was 3 years ago when I first heard of Bridger and his water project – BB’s Clean Water Project.

It was also 3 years ago when my own grandson Andrew, exactly Bridger’s age, gave my husband and me a little, hand-painted piggy bank.  That year, 2010, we named the little pig The Thanksgiving Pig and began filling it with coins and cash to donate to BB’s Clean Water Project. Our first piggy haul was $19.06 and every last penny was donated to Bridger’s Clean Water Project.

I even wrote a little poem dedicated to Bridger and his project called The Boy Who Wishes for a Well

The Boy Who Wishes For A Well

There is a boy who wishes for a well…
He imagines a magnificent water well.
One that takes neither tokens nor coins,
But gives extraordinary blessings and joys.

For in this well there is magic, you see,
The power and force and ability…
To bring clean water to children in need,
Children far less fortunate than he.

This extraordinary boy with his extraordinary wish,
A water well with its water gifts…
Has given up gifts this Christmas, indeed,
For his wish for his water well to succeed.

The following year, 2011, Bridger was at it again… giving up all gifts for water. Out came our Thanksgiving Pig again, set up for the Holiday season to bring awareness and money $$$$ and opening our hearts and our wallets to those in need of life’s most basic necessity – CLEAN WATER. When someone sees our Thanksgiving Pig, we tell the story of Bridger and Water. We are never surprised at the coins and cash that get stuffed into that little pig… and then tallied by our grandkids and sent along to Bridger’s project.

Now, in 2013, Bridger is hoping for $10,000 in donations to Charity: Water projects. He knows this is a lot of money. But he also knows that diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war… and that the $7,300+ he’s raised just by giving up gifts in exchange for charity has completed water projects in Ethiopia, Malawi and the funding of a drilling rig.

We’ve already set up our Thanksgiving Pig as the centerpiece of our holiday table. You can’t miss this little guy with the neon green body and peach polka dots…

Maybe this year I should tell everyone who comes to my home that we have a Pig for a Rig!

I heartily encourage you to read all about this amazing boy and perhaps put out your own Thanksgiving Pig… to remind us, our relatives and friends, and  especially our children that helping others is the true meaning of Thanks.

Every penny counts.

Do you have a Thanksgiving Pig to help Bridger with his Clean Water Project? {http://mycharitywater.org/cleanwaterforchristmas4}

Let’s all join Bridger and drill-to-the-quick to help enhance and save lives all over the world.

 

 

 

About Audrey

Audrey McClelland has been a digital influencer since 2005. She’s a mom of 5 and shares tips on her three favorite things: parenting, fashion and beauty. She’s also a Contemporary Romance Author.

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6 Comments

  1. 10.25.13

    Every penny does count! Your amazing support of Bridger and his clean water projects through the years has touched our hearts so much! We love this post, Pig with a Purpose, and love YOU and your beautiful family! Thank you! xo!

    P.S. We’re North Dakotans! Nebraska, North Dakota, close enough. 😛

  2. 10.25.13

    I want to hug this boy! What an incredible thing he is doing! So inspiring, thoughtful, generous, and smart. THANK YOU for sharing!

  3. 10.26.13

    What an incredible story! $600 is an insane amount of money to spend in total for Christmas, but I know that we like to save our change and make a donation at the end of each year- what a great charity! Thank you for sharing this… we will certainly be placing our pig in plain sight for the holidays!

  4. 10.26.13

    Wow! So inspirational! Sharing this post!!!

  5. 10.27.13
    Shell said:

    Wow, I am so inspired right now! I LOVE this idea. I have donated to Charity Water in the past, but the piggy bank idea is brilliant! Thanks for sharing!

  6. 10.29.13
    admin said:

    OMG… I can’t believe I wrote Nebraska! I know where you live! Chalk that up to 61! Love you all and thank you all for being so wonderful to the world… xox!

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