A Child's Right / Russell Gift Empowers Clean Water Initiative

Great news for our friends in Washington (state), and of course all of our friends in China, Nepal, Cambodia, Ethiopia and elsewhere.

All of the groovy details are here. And perhaps logically, A Child's Right is hiring.

Russell Gift Empowers A Child's Right's Clean Water Initiative

George F. Russell, Jr. and Dion Russell today announced a private charitable donation of $10 million to a child's right, an international water charity that provides safe drinking water to children around the world. The couple's gift is aimed at providing 1 million children with safe drinking water during the next 10 years.

"Our intent is to make a significant difference, and to convince others to help support a child's right, so we can help children with a fundamental and vital need," said Mr. Russell. "I've invested in this organization for years, and I am proud of their work and more importantly, the results."

a child's right has developed a customized water filtration system for charitable use by combining established water purification technologies used by multinational corporations. Funding from the Russells' personal donation will support a cascading rollout of pilot installations to serve the vast water needs of children in poor, urban areas across Asia and East Africa.

This announcement comes seven weeks after the United Nations Summit urged the global community to redouble efforts toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. It is widely acknowledged that achieving access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation is fundamental to achieving all eight MDGs.

Through a series of commitments, the donation will require a child's right to meet annual targets and performance goals in 12 new countries. The exploratory strategy will assist the charity in determining whether the current operating model will work effectively in each new location while simultaneously building infrastructure and capacity in its Tacoma, Washington headquarters.

"It is amazing to consider that without the vision and charitable leadership of people who recognize children's needs, this important work would not be possible," said Eric Stowe, Executive Director of a child's right. "George is a savvy investor and has set the bar high for us with this incredible gift. Because of his donation, we can roll out our expansion in a disciplined way, where future donors can observe success and know that all new dollars raised will be remarkably well leveraged, thanks to an assurance of infrastructure support."

Water purification projects will be piloted in twelve new countries: India, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Laos, Burma, Kenya and Uganda.

The Russells' investment is based on a child's right's existing operations in China, Nepal, Cambodia and Ethiopia. a child's right works in partnership with local institutions, whose beneficiaries are guaranteed ten years of equipment, service and support.