Welcome to the RandomKid Water Project.  This project was started through a collaboration of ideas between schools in Glastonbury, Connecticut, San Bruno, California and Des Moines, Iowa, to effectively address the world’s water crisis. 1 billion people on our planet do not have access to clean, safe water, leading to death, hunger, disease and poverty. 

The RandomKid Water Project allows people like you, working within organized groups, to fund water technologies that bring clean, safe water to water-stressed areas of the world by selling a bottled water product that YOU label. You get to decide the product NAME and TAGLINE, create the ART, and provide the label INFORMATION on the back— to support the technology of your choice.   

Below is an example of a label designed by a school in California to benefit a technology that pumps water using the energy generated when the kids spin on a merry-go-round.  This technology is available in Africa, and is placed near schools. They named their water, “WATER FOR LIFE”

FACTS:

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?

Schools, individual grades or classes within a school, districts, churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, youth groups, sports teams, businesses, or any other groups of individuals, youth or adult, who are inspired to help this cause by selling their own private labeled water.  This amazing project was developed by KIDS, and by joining in this effort, you are also helping these kids succeed in their goal to save lives by increasing the availability of safe, clean water using appropriate, sustainable technologies.

WHO WILL I HELP? 

You will have the opportunity to learn about the scope of the world's water crisis and the technologies available.  We have a special photo essay that we will share with you from UNICEF, that describes the state of the world’s water, along with video and article links about various technologies and their impact. 

You can choose where you help, who you help and how you help, by reviewing selected projects in in Africa, Asia and South & Central America, where the needs are most dire.  We are also glad to choose for you. What you raise will directly fund a specific project. You are welcome to fund your project solely with your group, or coordinate with other groups or schools we work with in order to combine funds for shared projects. The two outstanding organizations our kids have chosen to support right now are:

GLOBAL WATER (www.globalwater.org)

PLAYPUMPS INTERNATIONAL (www.playpumps.org).

We are glad to coordinate funds for any reputable project that brings water to water-stressed areas in the world using appropriate and sustainable technologies.

HOW WILL I RAISE THE FUNDS? 

By selling your water! Once you decide who you will provide aid for, you will develop a water product, including the label, tagline, artwork, and label information. We provide all the templates, arrange for the labels to be made and for the bottled water to be manufactured and delivered to you.  We supply purified natural spring water in recyclable bottles. We are also glad to share the successful marketing strategies developed by other participating groups.

WHO WILL PAY FOR THE SHIPMENT OF WATER?

RandomKid will send you your first shipment of water as funds are available (if you can cover the costs of your first shipment, there will be no wait time), and you will sell it, following your plan.   The first funds you generate will be used to cover the cost of the bottles. Most groups cover the cost of their bottles in the first 7-10 days of sales.  Any subsequent purchase of water will be made by reinvesting the funds you generate. 

CAN THIS PROJECT BE USED AS PART OF SCHOOL INSTRUCTIONAL TIME?

 One of our RandomKid goals is to make all of our projects instructional, but at the same time, not "practice" work, but "real" work. We want you to reach standards and benchmarks while engaging in authentically meaningful tasks. 

We encourage students and youth groups to develop water project notebooks and create fun, personalized business cards. We will provide the templates.

Here is a list of instructional support opportunities:

• You will learn about the world's water crisis.
• You will learn about appropriate and sustainable technologies that address the world’s water needs.
• You will identify where you want to give your aid based on location, technology, cost and impact. Later you will see/learn about the effects of your effort.
• You can journal or blog about your project on our official water project blog page http://randomkidblog.blogspot.com/index.html
• You can write "real" articles and post them in the kids' newsroom http://www.kidsnewsroom.org/coolschools/submissions.asp 
• You can arrange classroom "chats" in our RandomKid chat room (completely private and password-ID # secured) and practice typing skills while interacting in real time with kids in other states, discussing issues related to this project.   When you are done, you will be able to read the chat aloud to your class (like a play), or keep a notebook with the chats inside.

HOW ARE THE FUNDS DISTRIBUTED?

90% of the sales from this project go to providing water technology to water-stressed areas that you select, and 10% goes to our 501C3 non-profit, RandomKid, to continue funding projects like these that help kids to help others. All of RandomKid's services are free.  Click here for more information.

HOW DO I GET STARTED?

CONTACT:  water@randomkid.org