Community | July 30, 2011 | 7 comments

Rachel Beckwith: Nine-year-old girl’s wish to raise money for clean water takes off after her tragic car crash death

source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2019204/Rachel-Beckwiths-wish-raise-money-clean-wate...

Image
EdJoyProductions
Rachel Beckwith wanted to raise $300 by her ninth birthday to help bring clean water to people in poor countries.
Now donors the world over are making sure her wish is realised after hearing of her death.
Rachel was about $80 short of her goal when she turned nine in June, and then a horrific highway traffic accident took her life away last week.


But news of the Bellevue, Washington, girl’s pluck and selflessness emerged after the tragedy.
It is inspiring thousands of people - most of them strangers - to push her dream along.
By Tuesday afternoon, her web page that was set up to take contributions for charity:water, a non-profit organization that brings clean drinking water to people in developing nations, had attracted more than $200,000 in pledges, msnbc.com reports.


'What could have been simply a senseless ending to such a beautiful beginning of your story has turned into something so much more. I hope that if at all possible the obvious compassion so many others have shown in taking up your empathetic cause brings some peace to you and your family,' wrote one anonymous donor who pledged $31.
Rachel’s mother, Samantha Paul, posted a message Monday on the website: 'I am in awe of the overwhelming love to take my daughter’s dream and make it a reality. In the face of unexplainable pain you have provided undeniable hope. Thank you for your generosity! I know Rachel is smiling!'
Rachel’s family attends EastLake Community Church, a non-denominational church of about 4,000 members in Bothell, a suburb northeast of Seattle.
The church held a benefit concert in September that helped raise more than $300,000 for charity:water to bring clean water to the Bayaka tribe in the Central African Republic.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2019204/Rachel-Beckwiths-wish-raise-mone...
  1. groups:
    Community,   Green,   Culture,   Water Is Life,   2 more
  2. tags:
    Hero,  Clean Water,  Rachel Beckwith
  3.     
    |

7 comments // Rachel Beckwith: Nine-year-old girl’s wish to raise money for clean water takes off after her tragic car crash death

  • EdJoyProductions
    • 0
      EdJoyProductions  
    • Image

    • Update

      Two months after Rachel Beckwith’s ninth birthday, the fund-raising campaign of the Bellevue girl who died in a traffic accident last month has raised more than $1 million to bring clean water to African villages.
      Rachel had expressed a wish to raise $300 for safe drinking water by her ninth birthday.
      Since the public learned of the girl’s wish, there has been an outpouring of donations to charity: water, a nonprofit organization that brings clean drinking water to people in developing countries.
      As of Friday, Rachel’s campaign on charitywater.org had raised $1,006,313 from more than 26,000 donations.
      “We’re thrilled with the response,” said Sarah Cohen, communications manager for charity: water. “It’s the largest fundraising campaign in our history by far.”
      To date, charity: water has raised more than $40 million since it opened five years ago.
      In May, Rachel had her mother help her create a Web page saying that in lieu of birthday gifts, she wanted to raise $300 for safe drinking water in Africa. By her birthday in June, $220 had been raised.
      On July 20, Rachel was hurt in a crash on Interstate 90 in Bellevue, and she died three days later. When news stories of Rachel’s death described her charitable effort, the donations skyrocketed.
      Children’s campaigns rarely surpass six figures, said Michael Nilsen, spokesman for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, a group representing 30,000 fundraisers.
      “It’s all about trying to create a connection,” he said. “This is a very impressive amount.”
      According to the charity, every $20 donated provides one person with clean drinking water. Rachel’s campaign said that more than 50,000 people will be helped by the $1 million donation.
      “I am in awe of the overwhelming love to take my daughter’s dream and make it a reality,” Rachel’s mother, Samantha Paul, wrote on Rachel’s Web page. “In the face of unexplainable pain you have provided undeniable hope.”
      The fundraising will continue for 49 more days.

      Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/08/13/1781050/childs-clean-water-effort-goes....

    • 10 months ago
  • sue4e3
  • JanforGore
    • +1
      JanforGore  

    • Voted up, featured at Water Is Life, and I will make a donation to Charity Water to keep her dream alive. This is such an important issue.Thank you for posting this. She is now ageless.

    • 10 months ago
  • EdJoyProductions
  • EdJoyProductions
  • Misti
  • EdJoyProductions
more from Community:
from the community

top videos