Thirst in the Desert

I went for a bike ride tonight with my daughter. We pulled off the road twice for a water break. It's almost summer in Phoenix, Arizona and that means more than the desert can become parched.

Have you ever gone hiking in the summer? Or played summer golf? Or even walked to the mailbox? It's pretty stinking hot here. I take cold water with me on a hike, get a bottle of that fancy square-bottled water on the golf course, or grab an ice cold bottle of water when I get back from the mailbox.

But I have never really been thirsty. I'm betting you haven't either. At least not in the sense of 'my God I feel like I'm dying and where can I get a bottle of water?' thirsty. 

What if you are homeless and have no money? What if it's 110 degrees out and you keep getting run off any little patch of shade you find because you are 'trespassing'? Where does someone like that get a cold bottle of water to quench that kind of barely surviving thirst that you and I have probably never really known?

The Human Services Campus and its partnering agencies including the Chaplaincy are beginning their Thirst Aid Water Drive for 2012. It will kick off on Friday May 11, 2012 with the arrival of a huge Sundt Construction semi-truck filled with pallets of water!

Last year the HSC collected over 380,000 bottles of water and this year we need help to reach the 500,000 bottle goal. Thirst Aid has been a huge success in allowing us to meet our needs for water without calling on the City of Phoenix Heat Relief Network for donated water, and lessens the need for agencies to spend their resources on purchasing water.

I think you should help. I happen to know plenty of churches, lots of civic groups, tons of friends who want to make a difference in someone's life.

How about donating some cases of bottled water so the next time I have a client in my air-conditioned office who is drenched with sweat and red in the face from the heat; I can swivel around in my chair to my tiny refrigerator knowing I have some ice cold water in there to offer.

Contact our amazing HSC change the world kind of gal Holly Zoe at hzoe@hsc-az.org if you'd like to be involved in saving lives this summer in a very tangible way.

You can also check out more Thirst Aid 2012 info at the new Human Services Campus website HERE.


pace e bene!

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