Jessica and a group of students from her Ontario high school worked to create a walk-a-thon that raised $10,516 toward the cost of a Samaritan Filter, which provides more than 200 students in a school in Africa with safe water.
As a Grade 11 student at Hamilton District Christian High School in Ontario, Jessica Star was part of a science class that worked with Samaritan’s Purse to build and test a life-saving BioSand water filter.
They saw first-hand how the filter turned contaminated stream water into clear, drinkable water in only minutes. That inspired them to organize a walk-a-thon to raise funds for a Samaritan Filter (a larger version of the household-oriented BioSand filter) to provide safe water for an entire school.
Each $10,000 Samaritan Filter is capable of providing safe water daily to as many as 225 students.
Jessica and eight of her classmates partnered with students at nearby Guido de Bres Christian High School. Together, they went to the Samaritan’s Purse website’s Sponsor Me pages that enable Canadians to raise money for Samaritan’s Purse projects. Each school created its own campaign page, then the students publicized their campaigns using social media, emails, and presentations.
Donations from over 100 people ultimately raised $10,516.
“The convenience with SponsorMe.SamaritansPurse.ca was you could see the overall total at any time and anyone in the school and in the community could access the accounts,” said Jessica. “That was awesome, because people at my job wanted to donate, so I just sent them the link. Plus, I put it on my Facebook page so anyone could see it and go the campaign web page.”
Using SponsorMe.SamaritansPurse.ca is easy. Create an account, then browse the web pages for campaigns you want to financially support. You can also start your own campaign to raise funds for your favorite ministry or to offset the costs of going on a Samaritan’s Purse mission trip.
SponsorMe.SamaritansPurse.ca has lots of ideas about potential fundraising events, and helpful tips to make your event a success.
“If you’re starting your own campaign or going on a trip, Sponsor Me is very, very helpful,” Jessica said.