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Canfield community walks for water well
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Natalie Ricciutti, Adam Weiss, Dan Brown, Zack Davison and Drew Bennett showed up to walk despite the less-than-perfect Ohio weather.
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Maggie Sturm, Alanna Holcomb and Ashley Mangie completed the four-mile walk and were still smiling at the end.
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Students decorated the track with signs and balloons before the walk.
By EMILY GIANETTI
Several Canfield community service groups teamed up April 28 to help raise more than $3,000 for The Water Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing people with access to clean water and sanitation.
Last Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. students, parents and teachers from the Canfield school district walked the high school track to show their support for the event.
The district-wide walk was organized to raise money for a well to be built in a third-world country. All proceeds collected by students would be donated to The Water Project.
High school students were asked to walk 4 miles carrying one gallon of water to symbolize the average distance a person in a third-world country walks to obtain drinking water. Middle school students walked 2 miles with a half-gallon of water and younger students walked a few laps while carrying a bottle of water.
“We wanted to do a project that would pull the community together,” said Leo Club secretary Maggie Sturm, who participated in the walk. “The walk involved Leo Club, Key Club, Young Leaders and the Canfield Education Association, as well as many members of the community.”
The Water Walk was a part of an initiative set up by the Canfield Education Association. The initiative, called Bare Necessities by high school science teacher Paula Roberts, was all about food, water and shelter. It was a commitment to helping others through clothing and food drives and the walk.
“The association decided that we wanted to go out into the community,” said Roberts, who was heavily involved in the project. “Our goal [with the Water Walk] was to educate the local community, to prompt teachers to add lessons on water and water scarcity and to raise money to have a well built in a third-world country.”
She mentioned that just short of 2 percent of the water on earth is fresh and available for drinking. This education was coupled with yet another piece of the project: Cut It Out. Cut It Out urged high-schoolers to drink tap water for two weeks and donate the money they saved from doing so to the walk.
“We ended up with a nice showing from K-12 and a few teachers who went all out,” said Roberts.
C.H. Campbell teachers Laurie Howley had her class show up and walk wearing “Team Howley” T-shirts, and high school health teacher Michael Strohecker held contests to see who could get the most “Cut It Out” pledges.
Roberts said the Canfield Education Association plans to do the event next year.
“We’re hoping to make this bigger next year. We want to keep this thing going,” she said.