Join Embrace Relief’s 5K Walkathon and Help Build Water Wells in Africa

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide live in poverty, and suffer from terrible illness, as a direct result of lacking clean, drinkable water. But you can help them, and all it will take is a nice, hourlong walk in sight of the Statue of Liberty.  On Saturday, June 25, 2022, join Embrace Relief and support our efforts to bring clean water to millions of people in Africa by taking part in our first-ever H₂Ow Far Can You Walk: 5K Walkathon. Our 5K Walkathon will take place at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey. On-site registration will take place at 8 a.m. that day, with the walkathon getting underway at 9:30 a.m. To register in advance, visit Embrace Relief’s 5K Walkathon webpage. There are three tiers of registration, with each level giving additional gifts and swag to walkers:
  • Tier 1 – Pillars of Hope ($15): T-shirt
  • Tier 2 – Champions of Service ($25): T-shirt, bracelet, lanyard/medal, sticky wallet OR pop-socket, water bottle
  • Tier 3 – Builders of the Future ($30): All items from Tier 2 PLUS a drawstring backpack, print paper certificate, and a pen/notebook OR sweat towel
Additionally, we encourage you to donate to our Clean Water Initiative and Fountains of Hope project, which provide direct support for building and rebuilding water wells in Africa, a sustainable source of clean, drinkable water for thousands of people. Each $1 donated will provide 2,000 gallons of water to those in need!

Why We Walk

Embrace Relief’s 5K Walkathon is a fun event designed to give everyone a chance to get some exercise. But it’s also an important opportunity to understand that in many parts of the world, “walking for water” isn’t a leisure activity: it’s part of a daily routine of survival. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, more than 400 million people live without a nearby, safe source of clean water. To reach their nearest source of life-giving water, people – usually women and young girls – must walk for miles on unpaved roads, under a hot sun, carrying up to 70 pounds of water on their shoulders, neck, and back for hours at a time. This labor-intensive, time-consuming process takes its toll.
  • Every hour spent traveling to and from a water source is an hour a mother can’t spend raising her children, or a girl doesn’t spend in a classroom earning an education. 
  • Every mile they walk carrying heavy water containers presents a risk of short- and long-term injuries to the spine and shoulders. 
  • And in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, there’s no guarantee the water they’re fetching is safe to drink, given how many water sources are above-ground, unprotected, or otherwise susceptible to contamination. An estimated 2 million people die every year from diseases related to drinking contaminated water.
When you join us on June 25, likely a warm, beautiful afternoon in one of New Jersey’s most picturesque state parks, enjoy the views, the exercise, and the company of friends and fellow walkers. But be sure to give a thought to those people who must spend their days walking in order to keep their families alive and healthy.

How Embrace Relief helps

Embrace Relief’s commitment to easing the burden on people in Africa is centered on the building of sustainable, easy-to-maintain, safe water wells. Already, we’ve built or refurbished more than 500 wells in the African nations of Chad and Cameroon, supplying safe, drinkable water to more than a half-million people for at least the next five years. Funds raised at our 5K Walkathon event will support Embrace Relief’s Fountains of Hope project, which will rebuild 250 non-operational existing water wells in different regions of africa.  We look forward to seeing you on June 25! Together, we can make a huge impact by giving the gift of water, and thus the gift of a better life, to thousands of people and scores of communities. What better way to spend an early-summer afternoon?  
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