SEATTLE (May 22, 2018) – More than 48,000 walkers and runners around the world tied up their tennis shoes for a good cause and joined the world’s biggest 6K walk for clean water – World Vision’s Global 6K for Water. On Saturday, May 19, 2018, people from 23 countries around the globe walked and ran 6 kilometers for an extraordinary cause – bringing clean water to children and families around the world.
Every $50 registration provided lasting clean water to one person. Together, race participants and their supporters brought clean water to over 63,000 people.
“There were 20,000 more 6K participants this year. It was truly a global movement as thousands of people moved their feet to bring clean water to people in need,” said Ashley Colquitt-Finley, Global 6K for Water Race Director. “Some participants were so committed to the cause, they took the ‘jerry can challenge’, walking the entire 6K with a 40-gallon jerry can full of water, so they could physically feel the weight of what women and children in the developing world experience every day.”
Six kilometers – or approximately 3.7 miles – is the average distance young women and girls in the developing world walk every day to find water. The time spent walking forces them to miss school and the walk can be dangerous. Often the water they find is dirty, but these families still must drink it because it’s all they have.
“It’s hard to imagine life without clean water, but that is the reality for 844 million people around the world who struggle with simple daily tasks of showering, brushing their teeth, cooking and drinking,” added Colquitt-Finley. “So much progress is being made though and with movements like the Global 6K for Water, we are pressing towards our goal of a world where every man, woman and child has access to clean water!”
Each day, nearly 1,000 children under age 5 die from diarrhea caused by contaminated water, poor sanitation, and improper hygiene. But thankfully, the number of people without clean water is shrinking. Today, nearly ninety percent of the global population has access to clean water.
World Vision is the largest nongovernmental (NGO) provider of clean water in the developing world, bringing a new person clean water every 10 seconds as part of our full solution to end poverty. In 2017, World Vision provided access to clean water to 3.2 million people.
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Editor’s note: Race day photos and b-roll are available. Contact Holly Frew [email protected] 770.842.6188.