As an extension of this year's Science Day theme, Water, the students of Hillside Elementary (Montclair, NJ) will be raising money for three communities in need of access to clean water!

St. Gerald Sasala Primary School

The 515 students at St. Gerald Sasala Primary School spend too much of their day collecting and carrying water instead of learning.

The school has a seasonal hand-dug well that has difficulty keeping up with such a large population, especially during the dry season when the water table is low. Because it is not enough to meet daily needs, students are expected to collect and carry heavy water containers to school every day. And that collected water is often contaminated and then mixed in with other sourced water, making it risky for everyone.

Installing a borehole well will enable students and teachers to access water whenever needed throughout the year, right outside their classrooms, instead of wasting valuable learning time. Hopefully soon, everyone in this community will have the energy and health they need to focus on what teachers and students everywhere should be focused on: teaching and learning.

Appalachia Water Project

The Appalachia Water Project is centered in rural West Virginia, where over a third of the population lives below the poverty line. Many homes have never had access to safe running water and a growing number of families are losing their access to clean water due to aging pipes and infrastructure.

Instead of turning on their tap, these families have to rely instead on water from creeks, buying bottled water, and/or going to the local food bank, which gives out as much water as it does food to serve this community.

Our implementing partner, DigDeep, is working to extend water and sewer lines to homes not currently connected. These projects are shovel-ready but for families on low or fixed incomes, the cost– $3000 per home– is out of reach.

Let’s change the lives for as many of our neighbors as possible.

Navajo Nation

Across the Navajo Nation, which includes northern Arizona, southern Utah, and northwest New Mexico, 30% of households do not have running water or basic plumbing. Our implementing partner, DigDeep’s Navajo Water Project is the first community-managed utility alternative for homes without access to water or sewer lines in the US and is solving this issue through a host of off-grid and centralized solutions that address the unique needs of each of our clients.

Solutions include home water systems for homes without access to water or sewer lines, piped water connections for those close enough to main water lines, and wastewater septic services.

Hillside Elementary: Science Day Water Projects

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