Loose Change Goes A Long Way: Brownie Troop Gets Creative to Raise Money for Amman Imman

We are always excited when new schools join our Wells of Love program, and even more so when Amman Imman is recommended to them through a peer as a valuable organization to raise money for. This is exactly what happened when Lari Snorek reached out to her sister, Julie Snorek, a long-time AI supporter and former employee, inquiring about an organization that her third grade Brownie troop could fundraise for in association with their studies on current water issues around the world. 

Lari Snorek taught this group of bright third grade Brownies about the water cycle and different ways to conserve water within their community. She also taught them about the specific water crisis occurring in the Azawak region using photos, videos and curricula from our Wells of Love website. The girls even got hands-on and completed a water filtration project, in which they built a filtering system and filtered some pond water (see photo below).

Brownies Mia and Claire learn about water filtration.

From January to March 2015, this third grade Brownie troop from Carlisle, MA held a “loose change” drive to support Amman Imman. Each brownie channeled her inner creativity and had some fun decorating her own personal jar to collect money in. One Brownie named Maddie told members of her church about Amman Imman and passed her jar around the congregation as she spoke to collect donations. Maddie said, “It was really fun to collect money for Amman Imman. I liked all the activities we did to learn about water. It made me feel good to be able to help people. I liked counting the money and it was exciting to see how much we collected all together!”.

In total, these girls managed to raise $700 for Amman Imman all on their own, and we are so thankful for their hard work. This money will help fund the very important programs that we run in the Azawak and we could not continue on assisting these vulnerable communities if it wasn't for the continued help of schools and groups like these dedicated third grade Brownies. But what we find equally as important and exciting is the impact that our Wells of Love program has on groups and individuals who fundraise.

“The most rewarding part was seeing how the girls made a difference in their own actions at home after learning how far girls in Niger have to travel to get their daily water supply.”

– Lari Snorek, Brownie Troop Leader

One Brownie, named Mia, said, “The most important thing I learned is that you shouldn't waste water”. Since learning about the Azawak water crisis, Mia has started to remind her parents to turn off the water quickly when they aren’t using it and she spoke with her family about other ways they could conserve water. Another Brownie, named Claire, wrote about Amman Imman in a writing project for school. 

We are so thankful for the contribution that these girls were able to make to Amman Imman, and we are humbled by the impact that we as an organization were able to have on them as well. We hope that these girls continue to be inspired to help those in need!