GLENDORA STUDENTS RALLY COMMUNITY IN AN EFFORT TO RAISE $12,000 FOR A FRESHWATER WELL IN AFRICA

GLENDORA, CA- Four Glendora High School students have taken the challenge to raise $12,000 for a freshwater well in the country of Swaziland, Africa and will kick off this campaign at Glendora’s Earth Day on Saturday, April 16.

Approximately 663 million people in the world do not have access to safe, clean drinking water, according to the Thirst Project, a non-profit based in Los Angeles, whose goal is to bring the entire nation of Swaziland clean drinking water by 2020.

The students: Jake Bikle, 17, Maddy Lewallen,17, Mackenzie Hong, 18, and Ethan Coates, 18, are doing their part to help decrease that number.

The Thirst Project is the world’s leading youth organization that builds wells in third world countries for people who do not have access to safe, clean drinking water. Since 2008, the Thirst Project has raised more than $8 million dollars and given over 280,000 people clean water.

“We applaud the leadership of these students in Glendora who are about to kick-off this campaign to raise awareness of the global water issue and donate to build a well for a community in Swaziland” Evan Wesley, Director of School Tours for the Thirst Project said, “They are playing an active role in helping end the global water crisis.

Excited to join the Thirst Project, student Bikle says, “It is a unique opportunity for us here in Glendora to have an impact on such a large group of lives on the other side of the earth.”

Bikle, Lewallen, Hong, and Coates, got involved with the Thirst Project in 2015, after they learned about the global water crisis from Chelsie Kent, a member of the Glendora community and senior at the University of La Verne, who is also involved in the Thirst Project.

“I wanted to go against the grain and make it a point that we, our younger generation, has the power to make a change in the world,” added Bikle.

On April 16, the Glendora Thirst Project will be at the Glendora Earth Day Festival at the Glendora Library from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The group’s goal is to educate the community members about the global water crisis, and how to end it.

At the Festival, the Thirst Project will have Jerry Can races demonstrating how hard it is to carry a bucket of contaminated water for a long distance, a photo booth, merchandise to purchase and more.

For donations to help the students reach their goal, please visit:

my.thirstproject.org/Glendora