NORTHAMPTON — A local 13-year-old is back for the second time organizing a hike to support a global charity — this time for safe drinking water.
Saraphina Forman of Northampton and Whately is running Hike for What’s Right, her second annual spring hiking fundraiser.
This year’s 3.5-mile hike will kick off at 10 a.m. Sunday at Mineral Hills Conservation Area in Northampton. The proceeds, gathered from attendance fees of $10/person and $25/family, will benefit Charity: Water, a non profit committed to providing every person on the planet with clean drinking water.
“The investment of water is a good investment to make,” said Forman. “When I began researching the effects of safe drinking water, I was awed by the connections it has.”
Forman said clean and practically located drinking water influences education, the local workforce, health, life quality, empowerment of women, the economy and general freedom of opportunities.
“It’s not just about having something for people to drink,” she said.
Charity: Water has funded 19,819 water projects in 24 countries around the globe, in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, according to its website, charitywater.org.
Forman said Charity: Water uses 100 percent of its donations in the field, so every penny will affect access to safe water.
“It costs $10 to come and hike for an individual, and $30 to provide someone with safe water,” she said. “It only takes 10 dollars to become part of transforming someone’s life.”
Forman said she doesn’t know what its like to be cut off from clean drinking water, but she is trying to imagine.
“If we change in the way that we can think beyond what matters to us or right now, the improvements that can happen are just unlimited,” she said.
River Valley Co-op, Big Y, Sweeties Fine Chocolate and Confections, Rigali and Walder Orthodontics, and Alwaysplay Website Design and Development are sharing in Forman’s vision, helping to sponsor the fundraiser.
“It feels really happy,” she said. “This issue is a priority for people, so it feels like ‘yes, we can do this together.’”
Forman can be reached for questions at hikeforwhatsright@gmail.com. For information or to register for the event, visit http://www.i-m.mx/HFWR/hikeforwhatsright/.
Sarah Crosby can be reached at scrosby@gazettenet.com.