With a passion for helping others, students in the Thirst Project Club, including junior and Club President Salma Ahmed, junior Sarenna Wood and sophomore Connor Gusky, have already raised more than $2,000 during the first week of fundraising. The profits will go to the non-profit organization, the Thirst Project.

Around 663 million people from around the world do not have access to safe and clean drinking water. As club president, Ahmed hopes to spread awareness of this issue and gain support for the club.

“The world is dealing with a pretty significant water crisis, and it is very concerning because not very many people care and acknowledge that there are people in the world that are suffering,” Ahmed said. “I think it is totally unfair that people are careless and waste so much water. [There] are people in the world that actually need that water, and it makes me mad that people don’t care.”

Children from around the world who don’t have access to safe drinking water spend more than a 10000 hours each year trying to collect water, and a child passes away every 21 seconds from a dirty-water related disease. The club wants to address issues like these. 

“I [sometimes] feel like I won’t be able to do anything about [people lacking water] because it takes a global effort to make a change. I love equality, and I really wish that everyone could have equal amounts of resources. I want everyone to have a chance to live healthily, and we are taking it seriously because nobody deserves to suffer from a lack of clean water,” Ahmed said. “There is very little clean water in some communities, which makes me feel sad because they did nothing wrong.” 

Wood, the club’s events coordinator, designed bracelets to sell for their fundraiser. In August, the club had a vote on which bracelet design to sell. 

“I made 15 designs that our club voted on the group chat that all included the club logo. Each one had its own unique design,” Wood said. “The blue band ended up being the most popular, and after we did the vote, I ended up modifying the bracelet some more. Just being able to design a product that resembles our club, and being able to raise money is awesome, and I love being a part of the club.”

After selling bracelets during lunch the first week, the club raised a total of $300. 

“I never expected our club to do so well, and I enjoyed seeing my friends and other students come up to us and donate money to our cause,” Wood said. “Being able to see my designed product on [many] student’s wrists makes me feel amazing because I was able to create something that everyone liked.”  

In addition to selling bracelets, the club also set up a Go Fund Me account. 

“After setting up [the account], the amount we raised is truly crazy. We raised $1,600 within the first week which was absolutely insane. I was so shocked; I couldn’t believe it at first,” Ahmed said. “I always had confidence that this fundraiser would work, and so far it is exceeding what we all were expecting, which makes me feel great.”

The club’s goal is to raise a total of $12,000 by the end of next year. 

“In order to build a well for people to drink out of, it takes about $12,000 to build one, and originally I thought it would be very hard to raise that much money, but now that we already raised $2,000 within the first week, I think we can do it,” Ahmed said. “It is truly amazing that people care a bunch to donate this much money so quickly, and it makes me feel very happy that [a lot of] people are caring to donate.”

Alongside the fundraiser, the club also hopes to spread awareness about strategies to help reduce the amount of unnecessary water use. 

“There are some basic ways that everyone can contribute to reducing the overuse of water that include turning the water off when you are not using it, like when you are brushing your teeth,” sophomore Connor Gusky said. “Even doing the smallest thing to conserve water can come a long way because every amount of water that is wasted can be enough to fill an entire water bottle.” 

Like Gusky, other students in the club are spreading the organization’s message of preserving water and encouraging others to donate. Their bracelet sales are limited, but the Go Fund Me account will continue to be active. People can also donate to the main organization by texting THIRST to 97779.

“It is such a neat opportunity to be a part of this fundraiser, and I am glad to be able to help others in need,” Gusky said. “It is so good that we are able to help raise money for people that don’t even have the basic things that we do. I hope we can continue to do fundraisers like these because the world needs more people that care about the poor. Watching our fundraiser grow in donations is just amazing, and hopefully, we can do more fundraisers like this in the future.”