Fundraising for fountains
The TEN Campaign rolls out plan to raise money for clean water in Liberia
After going into the final weeks of drilling the last well in Grand Kru, Liberia in September, the TEN Campaign and The Last Well are beginning to fundraise and plan for expansion in their vision and mission to provide Liberia with clean water and the gospel border to border before the year 2020.
REFRESHED — Children in Liberia received clean water after fundraising the 10 Campaign and the Last Well. The organizations are growing their efforts to grow access to clean water. Photo Provided by the Last Well
Issac Apon, a member of the TEN Campaign’s lead team, said they do the majority of their fundraising in the spring, but this year they wanted to begin spreading the word a little earlier.
“I figured if we wanted to make a big difference, there’s only so much we can do with just one week of emphasis,” Apon said. “I had the idea to create a T-shirt store and make these cool-looking shirts that have to do with the TEN campaign but also just have a ‘do good’ theme to them.”
Apon said all of their spring fundraising events, including their annual gala and “10 week” will still happen, but the T-shirts will be their focus for this fall semester.
Quincy Thompson, another member of TEN’s lead team, said they did a T-shirt campaign last spring as well, but they wanted to start in the fall this year.
“Last year the shirts sold for $20 each,” Thompson said. “Ten dollars can provide one person with clean water for their entire lifetime, so the idea is that people can provide two Liberians with clean water for the price of one shirt.”
Tickets for their annual gala are $20 as well for the same reason, according to Thompson.
The TEN Campaign partners closely with The Last Well, an organization that aims to be out of business by the year 2020 because they will have completed their mission.
“The sole focus of TEN and The Last Well is to reach Liberia border to border with clean water and the gospel,” Apon said. “With each well that’s drilled, a local pastor is planted, and they teach them how to maintain the well because it would be pointless if they drilled the well
and left.”
RELIEF — The Last Well said they plan to be out of business once they reach their goal to provide clean water and the gospel to Liberia by the year 2020. Photo Provided by the Last Well
Apon said the pastors teach the locals how to fix the well before they leave so that if anything goes wrong, those in the village will not be without water.
“It gives them more hope because it allows them to feel like they’re a part of something bigger too,” Apon said. “The main thing is sharing the gospel, but another is giving something to do with their hands, so they can make a living.”
Thompson said there are a number of counties in Liberia, not unlike the states in the U.S. When the TEN Campaign started, Thompson said they chose Grand Kru as their starting place because it was forecasted as the hardest county to reach. He said they are currently in talks with the Last Well to pinpoint where they want to focus next.
“The great thing is we’ve reached probably the hardest county to reach in Liberia, and so now this year we’ll work with The Last Well to see, ‘What’s the second-hardest-to-reach county?” Thompson said.
He said the Last Well is currently doing research and projections to decide which county they want to reach next.
More information about the TEN Campaign can be found on the organization’s Facebook page, “The TEN Campaign,” and donations can be made at fundraise.thelastwell.org.
Gee is a copy editor.