Engaging in Philanthropy for Clean Water

By: Moira
Moira is participating in Allowance for Good's spring 2014 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy: Explorers program. 

Helping people out is one of the simple pleasures of life. There are many foundations and organizations that help make other people’s lives better, one of those being a family foundation. If I had a family foundation, it would be difficult to choose which causes to support but the main cause I would choose to support would to be providing clean water globally. Clean water is an important cause to support because water is the basis for life. Without water, it is hard for people to live a healthy and happy life. When you are thirsty, it makes it harder to concentrate and dehydration is a serious health issue.

In class 2 weeks ago, we learned about the Adonai School in Uganda, and our guest speaker told us about the struggle that the children faced when they retrieved the water. The nearest water is a long way away from the school so on the walk home it is tempting for the children to drink some of this water although it has not yet been purified and could cause health issues if it is drunk. Even if the children make it all the way back to the school, in order to purify the water they must boil it first to rid it of bacteria. After all this time had passed it is then okay to drink the water and some of the children might have already drunk it. 

If I was running my family foundation, I would want to make sure that I was engaging in philanthropy instead of charity. If I were to engage in charity for the cause of clean water, I might donate 50 gallons of purified water to a place that needed it. Instead of doing this, I would want to be involved in a more philanthropic aspect of giving. For example, maybe my family foundation could invest in water purifiers for those who need them. The difference between these two would be that the water purifiers could help for a long period of time and maybe help end the problem of water deprivation or unclean water, whereas giving water would only be a temporary solution. I know that everyone is able to help out people and need and they should because it will make them feel good.

Moira stands next to her favorite leadership quote during an Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy class.