Yes. While our ability to be present at your school may depend on geography, any school can show, run, walk, give, race, and teach about the global need for more accessible, clean water.

No. Run for Water education resources and speakers are free.

While there is a registration fee to participate in the Run for Water race in Abbotsford, groups from schools receive a discount – and kids’ registration fees are less expensive.

Run for Water is a community organization, with no requirement to participate in a faith community to volunteer, serve on our board, use our resources, or participate as an athlete in a race or an event. We welcome everyone in our community, regardless of beliefs, to help those who need clean water. We work with partners on the ground in Ethiopia who may come from faith communities. Any water system we help build is open to anyone, regardless of belief.

Our curriculum combines geography, science, social change, visual media, and impactful stories that will resonate with children of all ages.

Students will hear both sides of the story: water conditions in other countries and how we, in Canada, can partner with water-scarce communities.

1. We will discuss water conditions in other countries:

— The real need for clean water;

— Some parts of the world need water (we’ll use examples from Ethiopia);

— The day-to-day challenges that come with not having clean water;

— The living conditions of communities without clean water.

2. We will identify ways we can help here in Canada:

— Solutions for water conditions;

— People of all ages can help;

— Advocacy by young people can be the start of social change in Canada and around the world;

— Working together and working hard (like running a race!) can change the lives of people we haven’t even met

Funds raised are managed by Run for Water, a registered Canadian charity (82994 6037 RR0001), for water projects in Ethiopia.

Most of Run for Water’s costs – which are mostly event-related – are covered by corporate sponsorships at events. This allows donations to have the greatest impact on water projects in Ethiopia.

The Run for Water Foundation works with implementing partners to build wells and set up Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programming in Ethiopia. Our implementing partners are Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), which has been actively working on relief, development (like water systems) and peace programs in Ethiopia for over five decades. They partner with Afro Ethiopia Integrated Development (AEID), an Ethiopian organization which coordinates with MCC in Ethiopia to engage local communities, drill wells, and initiate WASH programming in villages.

Run for Water was founded in 2009 by visionaries who knew from first-hand experience the deep need for clean water in Ethiopia. They also knew that Abbotsford and the Fraser Valley could help others address that need.

Since then, Run for Water has grown into a well-loved athletic event in the Fraser Valley community. Clean water impacts everyone, so we like to motivate the entire community – all ages, all backgrounds – to get involved in this great cause!

Encouraging young people to educate themselves about clean water and giving them an opportunity to get involved has been part of the Run for Water vision from very early on. We’ve partnered with educators for a decade, encouraging them to bring the clean water story to their students in creative and participatory ways.