Hello, fellow water defenders!
So far this year, Global Partners: Running Waters has had the incredible opportunity to serve 2,787 people through various projects funded by our wonderful donors. While we are proud of the work we have accomplished together, we still need help to continue this necessary work to bring clean drinking water to families in Latin America.
I am Andrea Stapleton, recently elected as Board President of Global Partners Running Waters. I am honored to be a part of the dedicated and hard-working team at GPRW. I have spent most of my life in various ministries and bring a background in theology and nonprofit leadership. I also serve as the Vice President for Mission and Justice at Mount Mary University, another ministry of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. The life-giving mission of the Sisters inspires me every day to do my best to help make people’s lives better and systems more just, whether it be through education or providing access to clean water, or the many other challenges our world faces. I was a teenager when I became involved in ministry for people facing housing insecurity, knowing then that I was called to live in service to the world’s most vulnerable. Working among the Sisters and the other committed leaders at GPRW is a blessing to me, and gives me the peace and energy that comes through responding to one’s vocational call.
GPRW has worked hard this past year to reintroduce our Water Drop Project initiative. The focus of this initiative is to bring awareness of the necessity of water and the continued fight many indigenous Latin American people face. Our Water Drop Project is highlighted by the book Berta Saves the River by Suzanne Llewellyn. This book documents the struggles of water defenders in Honduras and highlights the life of Berta Cáseres, Honduras’s Indigenous human rights leader. GPRW has worked to put this book into classrooms around Milwaukee and make it a part of their curriculum. We ask you to help us continue building partnerships and relationships with those we serve in Guatemala and the children in our community. Our mission is unwavering in our fight to aid in efforts to help make clean drinking water more accessible while also educating others on why this is still an issue in our world today.
From all of us at GPRW, thank you for making this year such a success and for believing in this mission just as much as we do. Still, there is more to be done. With your help, we aim to fund one more water project before the year ends. Or you may feel called to donate to local awareness-building efforts in Milwaukee this holiday season. Please consider donating a classroom set of Berta Saves the River books to help bring awareness to this issue to others in our community. However you feel called to serve, we appreciate your commitment to GPRW and are sending warm wishes to you this holiday season!
Please feel free to donate using the Give Lively link below or on our website, which is also linked below, along with more information on Berta Saves the River.
https://secure.givelively.org/donate/global-partners-running-waters-inc/givingtuesday-2024
https://globalpartnersrunningwaters.org/give-the-gift-of-clean-water/
https://globalpartnersrunningwaters.org/berta-saves-the-river/
Sincerely,
Dr. J. Andrea Stapleton, Board President of Global Partners: Running Waters