Dear Friends,

How often is it that you think about the water that you use daily? Is it in the supermarket, in the bottled water section?, when you're deciding how many ounces you plan on guzzling this week? Is it at your children's sports games, when you see tired athletes pour the entire contents of their water bottles on their face? How about when you shower?

As an avid runner, water is something that is frequently on my mind. My thoughts are usually geared towards how much I have had to drink, and how much more I need in order to stay hydrated and energized. Something that rarely crosses the minds of millions of Americans, however, is how lucky we truly are to have such a precious resource at our disposal. All it takes is the turn of a faucet and clean water is readily available. Not everyone is as truly blessed as we are.

Consider Helen Apio, for instance, a woman, mother, and survivor from Uganda. Neither she, nor her children, nor her entire community had access to clean water. Many in her village experienced sickness and parasite-related death due to the unclean and unsafe water they were forced to drink for survival. It was not uncommon to walk unfathomable distances on a daily basis only to collect water that many of our pets would reject - muddy, murky, and dirty water from ponds, puddles, ditches, and wherever was available. Then something very special happened to Helen and her community. With a donation of $5,000 a team of volunteers working with Charity: Water arrived, and built a well, a well that would provide an entire community of people with clean and safe water for 25 years. Helen and hundreds like her instantly gained the gift of life, of leisure, and of surplus. With the hours saved from not having to journey each day in search of water, Helen was able to start a garden. She was able to send her children to school, and be the mother she always wanted to be. Her family is clothed, fed, healthy, and happy. Of the 42,000 weekly deaths that occur around the world, 90% of the victims are children. With a collective effort to provide those children and their families with something as basic as clean water, imagine how many lives could be saved. Imagine how many success stories like Helen's could be told around the globe.

On October 9th, 2010 I will be running the Hartford marathon. This has been one of my goals for some time. As much as completing the 26.2 miles will be a big milestone for me and a great personal accomplishment, I want it to be about more than me. I want to make a difference on a global level. I want to further the amazing work of Charity: Water and raise enough money so that women like Helen can share water from one more clean well, can share in a story of success. But this is not something that I can do alone.

Please donate. Sponsor me.

I am looking for 26 individuals or organizations to sponsor me - one for each mile I will complete. My challenge to each of you is to put aside your Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, or other coffee shop money for 1 month. If you are not a coffee drinker, how about the spare change that ends up in your pocket at the end of the day? Do you think you could give up purchasing bottled water for a month, braving the tap water for a brief time in the spirit of helping those without water gain access to this vital resource? Whatever you are willing to do, whatever you are willing to donate, I would be so incredibly grateful. Your support will help me achieve my goal, and in turn, help women like Helen survive, and thrive. There is no such thing as a small donation. If we all band together we CAN make a difference. Please help.

While my final fundraising goal is $5000 or more (at least one well) this web site will only allow me to campaign for 3 months at a time. So, I will be leading this fundraising effort in 2 parts prior to the marathon, and however many parts post - marathon it takes to get to $5000!

Thank you in advance for your generous support and donations!