Last Saturday 60 people from Purpose Church Claremont walked, ran and “strollered” six kilometers, 3.7 miles, to raise money for clean water in the developing world. The event was part of the non-profit World Vision Philanthropy’s Global 6K for Water initiative.
That distance was selected because six kilometers is the average walk that people in the developing world travel daily to obtain water, according to a news release from Christopher Shore, a member of Purpose Church Claremont and the event organizer.
Getting water in these countries is mostly the responsibility of women and girls, so two of the walkers carried either water or sand to simulate what the average woman in the developing world experiences daily. Both men said it was absolutely grueling.
“When our church realized that $50 would get a person clean water for life, we became very motivated to spread the news and get out there to do something practical to help,” Mr. Shore who is also chief development officer, economic empowerment at World Vision said.
The participants walked from Western Christian School, on Padua Avenue, to Higginbotham Park and back, raising nearly $7,000 for World Vision’s clean water program.
“That will provide almost 140 people with sustained access to clean water,” Mr. Shore said. “Providing clean water opens up opportunities for improved education for girls and economic activities for women—to say nothing of the immense health benefits from having clean water.”
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice according to the organization’s website.

by Steven Felschundneff | steven@claremont-courier.com