H2 Oh No!

This post is inspired by 2010 Blog Action Day. This year's topic is water.

Right now, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s one in eight of us.

If you're a veteran visitor to the Blondes, Poop & Mascara blog, you know how big of a deal this has been to us in the past. In particular the Well Water Project comes to mind. A campaign our local church body ran from Easter to Christmas to raise enough monies to give to Horizon International to build two clean water wells in Zimbabwe, Africa. We succeeded too! It was actually this fund raising project that inspired the beginnings of what has become Fashionthropic. A non-profit T-shirt company that gives away 100% of it's proceeds. Zero capital means you can give it all away! The Quench Thirst. Give Life. shirt continues to be one of the best sellers in the store.

In the last decade, there have come to be SO many wonderful organizations dedicated to helping provide the world's lesser of these clean safe drinking water. There are several larger wonderful organizations like World Vision, Oxfam and we've already mentioned Horizon International that help, but here is our short round up of orgs that specifically exist to combat this issue...

Blood: Water Mission

Wine to Water

Charity Water

Water.org

If you didn't know, now you do. Use your voice. Post. Blog. Tweet. Raise awareness. Support one of the organizations listed above. Don't take for granted the clean water you have. Educate your children. Don't do nothing. We leave you with this short video from Blog Action Day...

Blog Action Day 2010: Water from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

#6: Top Ten Gifts That Give

Black Friday review time! (Don't they call it "Black" because it's when all companies finally go in the black in their accounting records?)

Number six on the list is likely going to be our favorite. Because it's one that is so close to our hearts. A new store over at Skreened called Fashionthropic has new Well Water Project T shirts. There are four designs to choose from. Our favorite is this long sleeve tee. Don't like the designs Fashionthropic has available? No problem! You can customize your own at Skreened.

Every single cent of proceeds from the sale of each shirt goes to fund the Well Water Project. A vision cast by folks from The Well in song with Horizon International to get clean water to AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe, Africa. Learn more about the project via this handy little digital brochure.

Another very cool plus with these shirts is that they're made sweatshop free on American Apparrel digs, inked with water-based inks AND Skreened as a company gives away 10% of it's monthly profits to local causes they believe in. Sweet! More on Skreened ethics here.

If ever there was a time for a gift like this, it's Black Friday. You don't even have to wait in any lines or fight traffic. Just click on over.

because safety = clean water

Need to keep people out of your house? Need to keep people in your house? Hate dealing with keys? This brand spankin' new satin nickel Schlage Keyless Deadbolt lock was donated by designHER as a fundraiser for The Well Water Project. Click on the little boy that needs clean water below to check out the auction and place a bid.

Garage Sale-abration!

Thanks to all of our friends, neighbors and family that helped our cause by donating items to our garage sale this weekend.

In total we raised $375 to go toward The Well Water Project!

And, let us not forget the generous buyers that came out as well. Some didn't know the cause until they arrived. Dozens upon dozens had enthusiastic and hope-filled comments once they were educated that 100% of the money they spent was going directly toward building a well in Zimbabwe, Africa for a community who lacks clean water. To them goes a special thank you!

Want to donate some items yourself or make a donation? Drop us an email or leave us a comment and we'll get in touch with you.

Born in September?

Scott was. And, his heart moved him toward a brilliant Life-giving idea...


The September Campaign Trailer

Here's a public service announcement they did with Jennifer Connelly...



It's hard to watch as I sit here at the office sucking down four 32oz bottles of crystal clear purified water each day. But, it brings me joy to see images like this one, read about guys like Scott, know what these guys are doing over here and be so deeply entrenched in our own Well Water Project with some friends of ours. More to come on the latter as we work on getting PayPal set up for online giving.