Rotarians team up with students to provide clean water

Growing up in an affluent community near Lake Michigan, Connor Kenehan never had to worry about a lack of clean water. But when a class assignment opened his eyes to global disparities in water access, he decided to help those who don’t have the benefit of proximity.

Kenehan founded an organization called Well Being while researching water and sanitation issues for an eighth-grade project at Deer Path Middle School in Lake Forest, Illinois, USA. Four years later, he has turned the assignment into a platform to raise funds for clean water efforts. “Living in an area with great access to fresh water, we take it for granted,” he says.
Powerful allies

Early on, Kenehan realized that Rotarians could be powerful allies in the fight for safe water. “My friend and I were in Lake Forest with a poster, talking to people and asking for donations, and a Rotarian stopped by,” he recalls. “He asked if we’d want to come to a Rotary club meeting.” After the Rotary Club of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff voted to match the funds Kenehan had already raised, he gave $3,000 to a Rotarian initiative in Minorca, Spain, that sends LifeStraws to villages in Africa. Each inexpensive and lightweight personal water filter can remove more than 99 percent of waterborne bacteria and parasites from up to 264 gallons of water. Read More ...