Maple Ridge held its first World Vision Global 6K for Water run on Saturday morning at a course at Maple Ridge secondary.
Brenda Garcia of Thrive Empowerment Solutions said she put on the event both because she appreciates the cause, and as a final fitness test for a group of young girls she has been working with.
The registration for adults in these runs $50, and World Vision says that is enough to provide one person with drinking water for life, by helping to construct infrastructure in developing countries.
“So if a family of four registered for the event today, that means a family of four in Mali, Africa is going to the recipient of clean water,” she said.
The funds will go to projects in Gao and Timbuktu, she said, where only 65 per cent of the population has access to potable water. In Gao, World Vision plans to construct a mechanized water network system providing clean water to 5,133 individuals. In Timbuktu, they will rehabilitate five boreholes providing clean water to an additional 2,000 people.
Garcia had water jugs, in both child and adult sizes, that she asked people to carry, as people in Africa have to carry their water long distances.
The race was unique in that each race bib feature a face of a child that will benefit from World Vision’s clean water projects.
