The Daily Star
In Cooperstown, a village
on the shore of Otsego
Lake, clean water is a given.
Former Cooperstown
Trustee Grace Kull and
students and staff at Cooperstown
Elementary
School are now working to
make sure others have the
same good fortune.
``When I learned that so
many people in developing
nations don’t have clean
water — something we take
for granted — I decided to
do something about it,’’
Kull said.
Last summer, she did
some research on organizations
that help dig wells in
far-off places and settled on
Charity: Water ``because
100 percent of their donations
go to the project,’’ she
said.
A well costs an average
of $5,000 to drill, she
learned. So she decided to
pay for one, a project that
will sustain hundreds of
people for years.
``I donated my last year’s
salary as a village trustee,
$1,000, to get started,’’ she
said. ``Then I sent e-mails
to everyone whose address
I had, about 100 people,
and it’s taken off from
there. I was thinking that if
200 people gave $20 a piece,
we’d have the $4,000, but
some people have given a
lot more.’’
Since July, Kull has
raised about $3,600 and today,
Cooperstown Elementary
School will contribute
hundreds of dollars toward
the project.
``We’ve been collecting
pennies throughout the
month of October,’’ school
counselor Christine Mc-
Brearty-Hulse said Thursday.
At the start of the month,
students watched a slideshow,
giving them a keener
appreciation of how their
pennies could do some good,
McBrearty-Hulse said.
Students took the project
and pennies have been
rolling in.
``I’d estimate we have
about $500,’’ she Thursday.
But by the time Friday afternoon
rolled around, the
pennies came to a total of
almost $700.
``The kids have accomplished
a great deal,’’ Kull
said when she heard the total.
``It’s amazing to me.’’
Kull said that when the
fund reaches $5,000, the
staff at Charity: Water will
decide where the well will
be drilled.
``I hope it is in Africa, because
I think the students
are aware of how great the
need is there,’’ she said.
A plaque acknowledging
the gift from the Cooperstown
area will be installed
near the well, she said.
Kull said she hopes to
raise the balance of the
money in the coming
weeks.
Those interested in donating
may send a check to
Charity Water, care of
Grace Kull at 19 Church
St., Cooperstown, NY
13326. On the check’s memo
line, they should write
``Grace Kull’s well,’’ she
said.
Donations may also be
made over the Internet directly
to this project
through the website www.charitywater.org/pages/graceswell. To donate on
line, people will need to use
a credit care or PayPal account.
inactive
November 5, 2009
Changing the world, one penny at a time
- inactive
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