What Organizing Looks Like
December 2, 2019 | Safe Water | Tags: Fundraising, giving tuesday, grassroots organizing, Maine, well water
A little-known issue links communities in Guatemala, where I’m from, to communities in Maine: arsenic contamination of drinking water.
I was first convinced of the power of organizing for change when I spent time in a Guatemalan community organizing around water contamination. And it is my work in Maine on this issue that reminds me of the power of organizing, everyday.
Let me give you a glimpse into what our organizing looks like: This summer, I trained four talented interns, who visited libraries, community centers, and farmer’s markets across rural Maine, talking to hundreds of people about the risk of arsenic contamination and the importance of well water testing and treatment.
When parents heard about the impacts of arsenic exposure on children’s brain development and the higher risk of certain cancers, they were horrified. Too many of them had never heard about this issue before—and they wanted to protect their kids.
As a result of our outreach, last summer alone, 100 families tested their drinking water for arsenic.
Will you fund this important work with a Giving Tuesday gift? Whether you are able to give $10 or $100, your gift will immediately purchase drinking water test kits, fund our travel costs, and fuel hours of outreach and leadership training in communities across Maine.
When we connect people to resources for testing and water treatment, we also learn important information about barriers that stopped them from getting their water tested and treated before we arrived, and we then train local community leaders to drive wider change. This critical work also drives policies for safe drinking water that we have won in Augusta and beyond.
Because everyone, no matter how much money they have or where they live, deserves safe water to drink.
We can’t do this work without you. THANK YOU.