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Courtesy of charity:water
Rachel Beckwith asked friends to donate to her favorite charity rather than give her gifts for her ninth birthday.
All Rachel Beckwith wanted for her ninth birthday was for people less fortunate than her to be able to have clean water to drink. Now, a year after Rachel’s death, her mother is traveling to Africa to see firsthand how her daughter’s wish has come true for thousands of people she never met.
Samantha Paul, of Bellevue, Wash., accompanied by her church pastor and others, is traveling to the Tigray region of Ethiopia to visit the communities that now have access to clean water because of Rachel’s wish.
“The biggest thing I’m looking forward to is seeing the actual wells where the people, because of Rachel, are going to be able to have clean water," Paul said in a telephone interview Thursday, "seeing other 9-year-old children and their moms knowing that they're going to have a 10th, 11th and 12th birthday and so on because of Rachel’s heart.”
Rachel, the girl with a big smile and giving spirit, wanted to raise $300 by her ninth birthday on June 12, 2011, for charity: water, a New York-based nonprofit that works to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. She started her online campaign after hearing Scott Harrison, founder of charity:water, speak at her church, EastLake Community Church in Bothell, Wash. Instead of birthday gifts, Rachel asked that people donate to the charity.
Rachel fell a little bit short of her goal by the time she turned nine. A few weeks later, on July 20, 2011, Rachel, her younger sister Sienna and their mother were in a car on Interstate 90 east of Seattle when a semitrailer jackknifed into a logging truck, sending logs spilling onto the highway. In the ensuing chain reaction, the semi rear-ended Paul’s car, critically injuring Rachel, who was in the backseat. She was taken off life support and died at a Seattle hospital on July 23, 2011.
Word of Rachel’s birthday wish spread quickly after her death and her story was picked up by national news outlets including NBC News, The New York Times and CNN. Donations to charity: water in her name -- some from strangers across the world -- took off. In just a few weeks, pledges for the Rachel’s Wish campaign topped $1.2 million.
The money is going to projects that will bring clean drinking water to 60,000 people in Ethiopia, according to charity: water.
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Ethiopia, a landlocked country of nearly 85 million in the Horn of Africa, is consistently hard-hit by drought and famine. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, and it’s estimated that only a quarter of its residents have reliable access to clean drinking water.
“Rachel’s lasting legacy will be seen in the lives and smiles of thousands of children like her that will now have access to life’s most basic need -- clean and safe drinking water,” Harrison said in a press release.
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EastLake Community Church, a longtime supporter of charity: water, has raised more than $400,000 for clean water projects. The church and its members are hosting a fundraising event called Drinks4Drinks on Aug. 3 to continue to raise awareness for the developing world’s water crisis.
'This changed actual lives'
Paul, her parents and Pastor Ryan Meeks were among those departing for northern Ethiopia on Thursday night for a weeklong visit to villages where drinking water wells are being built. Harrison and other charity: water officials will also be on the trip.
"We're going to actually see the work done," Meeks told KOMO News last week. "It's one thing to have your heartstrings pulled on and give money to something, but it's another thing to actually see the work proven. This went somewhere. This changed actual lives and here they are."
A year after Rachel's death, Paul said she's still surprised at how her daughter has touched the hearts of so many strangers.
"A lot of kids look forward to birthdays and Christmas. She realized she didn't need anything for her birthday, she had enough. It's amazing that a 9-year-old could grasp that concept," Paul said.
The campaign continues with her family’s Rachel's Birthday Wish for Sienna page on charity: water's website.
Rachel isn’t the only “celebrity” who has inspired a giving campaign to bring clean water to Ethiopia. Hollywood couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith recently returned from a trip to Ethiopia with charity: water to see the impact of their fund-raising efforts. They visited schools and communities benefiting from new wells and spent time with villagers.
In 2010, the Smiths opted to forgo presents for their birthdays in favor of donations to charity:water and asked their fans to do the same. The couple’s efforts reportedly raised more than $789,000 for charity: water.
Previous stories on Rachel:
9-year-old girl’s clean water wish takes off after her death
Rachel’s legacy inspires other kids to give
Video: After death, girl inspires $1 million in donations
Leave a Comment:
Famine and pestilence are prophecies that were foretold in the Bible. We can all look to God through Jesus that
they will save all mankind and the Earth through the Heavenly Kingdom. We are now living in the "time period"
that the Bible foretold of the conditions we will have to deal with.
Happy birthday, Rachel.
I'm surprised and disappointed that no one has said anything like kudos to her parents, who did a wonderful job raising Rachel.
There are a lot of resources in the world to meet the needs of all. The problem is, there aren't enough kind people in the world who are willing to care enough about others. This child cared. She is looks down from heaven smiling at us all. Ironic though that donations were barely trickling in before her death. It should not have taken the death of a child to realize the needs of others.
Rachel would have liked to have seen the money spent on her mother's trip w/ family to be used for the cause she started.
I still think of Rachel and her generosity quite often. It's wonderful that her mom is going to meet the people her daughter helped--I'm sure she is going to get quite the reception. She is going to love Africa.
I'm speechless. About the time you are convinced that good no longer exists on our planet and then you read something like this. The human race has jumped the tracks and lost its direction on many occasions but this shows us we will find our way back. For this little girl to leave this kind of legacy makes me proud as I'm sure her mother and family are also. I can't think of a better example of human kindness and charity to follow. This is as pure as it gets.
Admirable. Not only the "heart of gold", but feet of something much more substantial than clay.
Some will ask of themselves,"Why can't I show the kind of spine and heart she did?" .
Wonderful story but isn't it just seem odd that her parents let her goal fall short on her birthday. If my kids birthday wish was this great and I do mean great I would sell a kidney to see she achieved it by her birthday.
Maybe there are reasons for tragedies, she had a goal and really exceeded it.
Still looking for video's showing the wells they are suppose to be drilling..