Start of the ride …

With the success of Water Centric’s first ever bike-a-thon last year, enthusiasm was high among the organizers and participants. The bike-a-thon 2011 did more than live up to the expectations!

On a beautiful Saturday morning on July 30, just under 100 enthusiastic participants arrived at the Great Brook Farm in Carlisle, MA geared up to ride, walk or volunteer for Water Centric. The scenic 54 mile “Apple Pi” route, was not for the faint of heart, as it wound its way up and down through the towns of Carlisle, Concord, Littleton and Harvard, MA. The shorter 18 mile ride was closer to the venue and a walk along the beautiful park trails was yet another option.

After a light breakfast of fruit, donuts and munchkins provided by Dunkin Donuts and coffee from Starbucks, the bicyclists headed out on their ride. Rest-

stops had been arranged for them to freshen up, stretch and fuel up with water and fruits, some of which was donated by Verrill Farms. The Carlson Orchards in Harvard, MA, one of the designated rest stops, was a gem of a spot with several trees, picnic tables and a cool breeze thoroughly enjoyed by the bicyclists and volunteers alike.

All bicyclists and walkers accomplished their respective challenges and arrived in high spirits at the barn of Great Brook Farm where a barbecue cookout awaited them. Pulled pork and pulled chicken from Redbones, salads from Bertucci’s and veggie burgers were just some of the items on the lunch menu. A raffle of items from ATA cycles, Bikeway Source , Belmont Wheelworks and Dunkin Donuts added to the day’s fun and activities. During lunch, the event further spread awareness about the lack of clean water and sanitation in the developing world by projecting a video about Water Centric’s activities addressing the situation.

We are grateful to all of you for your participation in supporting this important cause and we hope that you will continue to support us in our endeavors. We look forward to seeing you at our next annual Bike-a-thon!

Water Centric was thrilled when seven students from Rivers School in Weston, Massachusetts visited our Sri Niwaspuri school in Delhi in March of this year. Teacher and Acting Department Chair Amy Enright, accompanied the children on their trip and writes of their “physical, intellectual and emotional journey” and their “uniformly positive, if a bit amazed” response:

“Rivers students were very impressed with the poise and knowledge of the Sri Niwaspuri girls.  Several members of the Sri Niwaspuri school hygiene club performed poetry and songs describing the importance of disease prevention and hygiene discipline.  Both groups of students got a chance to practice their basic knowledge of Hindi and English greetings and then translations of the performances were offered by teachers and by the Water Centric/Sakshi representative, Mr. Zuber Khan.

“The visit to the school, one Rivers junior reflected, allowed us to see the challenges of water management in an urban setting and to imagine the difficulties of running an elementary school without the benefit of clean water and working facilities. As institutions for youth, schools offer a unique opportunity for new generations to learn about and practice a culture of hygiene. Rivers strongly supports Water Centric’s focus on schools as a place to start to raise cultural expectations for clean, accessible water.”

Water Centric Bike-a-thon Riders at Great Brook Farm

Don’t Miss our Second Annual Bike-a-thon! Enjoy Fun, Friends, Food & Raise $ for a Great Cause

Water Centric is holding its second annual bike-a-thon on July 30 at Great Brook Farm in Carlisle, MA and would like to urge you, your family and friends to join us for a fun filled morning. There are a lot of activities – such as biking, hiking nature trails and a petting farm. We will conclude with a family cookout with food sponsored by Redbones Barbecue, Bertucci’s Pizza, Starbuck’s Coffee and more.  Come enjoy with us and have a wonderful time while helping raise funds for Water Centric’s work in schools.

Sign up now! There will be a 50 mile ride, leaving at 8am; and shorter rides, leaving at 10am. Spread the word about Water Centric’s bike-a-thon among your family, friends, and olleagues to help support this great cause! All proceeds go directly to Water Centric’s projects, which supply clean water, toilets, and hygiene education to needy schools in the developing world, helping young children get the right start!

To get more information and to register please click here: http://www.watercentric.org/bike-a-thon.html

Click here

Smiles for a New Septic Tank

By Raj Melville (Water Centric Board Member)

I met Sujatha when we worked together a while ago. Always bubbly and cheerful, we continued to keep in touch over the years. A few months ago she sent me a short note, “My fiancé Peter and I are getting married … and we want our wedding presents to be in the form of monetary donations towards a charity in a developing nation…. We would prefer if the charity is centered around providing people with basic necessities like clean water, food, or education.”

I was immediately touched by this generous gesture. Over the next few weeks I shared a number of options with them ranging from established sites that have now sprung up that allow you to add a donation component to your wedding site to suggestions for specific charities. After deliberating with her fiancé Peter, Sujatha informed me that they had decided to settle on just a single charity for their wedding registry. In her words, “This is a great cause and Water Centric seems to be doing some really good work! Pete and I were leaning more towards it for our wedding gift donation/registry.”

Laying Bricks for the New Septic Tank

Of course when I informed Lotika Paintal, founder of Water Centric about this she was really excited and also very moved by this show of support for the organization’s work. Working with Pete and Sujatha, Lotika helped provide a set of links that they could embed on their wedding site for guests to donate and let the donations be tracked. Water Centric also provided regular updates on funds received to allow the guests to see how much was being raised.

Pete and Sujatha setup a page on their site that directed their guests to a Paypal link to channel their donations to Water Centric. In a truly selfless gesture they said on their website:

“We have decided that we already have everything we could possibly need so please don’t buy us any gifts (seriously).

Instead we have decided that it is a good idea is to use this opportunity to give to those who need our help the most. We are working with an NGO called Water Centric to help bring drinking water and sanitation to schools in the developing world.”

Digging A New Foundation

The response to their appeal was phenomenal. They easily blew past what they had hoped to collect. Just before the couple went off on their honeymoon they dropped us a line saying, “We will definitely exceed our target which is great …. We are extremely happy with the outcome and we are convinced it will make big difference in the hands of Lotika’s organization.” We are happy to report that Pete and Sujatha and all their guests were able to raise over $6500 for Water Centric.

Water Centric is truly grateful for this support. It has just completed a septic tank at the Sriniwaspuri school that allows over 1000 girls access to functional toilets, for the first time, at their school. WC  will show the couple and their guests the further impact of their donations in regular updates about their schools.

We hope this story also inspires you to come up with creative ways of incorporating your favorite charities into your personal events –whether it is a wedding, a birthday or some other celebration. The joy of giving is twice rewarded as you help support a cause you believe in and see the long term impact of your donations.

To setup a page for your next event, please contact us at postmaster@watercentric.org

Water Centric Found Lotika Paintal talks with Delhi school girls

The Gatehouse News Service and The Lexington Minuteman recently covered Water Centric’s work of delivering water, sanitation, and hygiene education to the neediest schools in India. Please take a look and follow the link to read the complete story! 

Startup looks to battle issues of hygiene, water

Spectacular summer weather including perfect temperatures welcomed the nearly 100 people who arrived at Great Brook Farm in Carlisle, MA on July 31 to participate in Water Centric’s first ever bike-a-thon.

Bicyclists arrived with every level of experience and conditioning. The beautiful 52 mile “Apple Pi” ride was the route that 32 of the experienced cyclists rode through the scenic country roads of Carlisle, Concord, Littleton, and Harvard, MA. Others opted for the shorter 18 mile ride, while still others enjoyed walking the beautiful park trails. One young woman who had never ridden a bike on the road before, actually rode the entire 18 mile ride – to cheers by all!

The activities culminated with a barbecue lunch at noon. Pulled pork and pulled chicken from Redbones, pasta salad from Bertucci’s, apples, cookies, and drinks from Whole Foods, and hot and iced coffee from Starbucks, were just some of the options at the cookout, which was then topped off with a  raffle of items donated by Bikeway Source, Pietzo, Peet’s Coffee, Shaw’s, Verrill Farm, and Citizen’s Bank.We would also like to thank Cambridge Trust bank whose donation supplied us with snacks for the rest stops.

It was a great time and we wish to thank everyone who rode, hiked, volunteered, sponsored, and supported this important cause! Also, please send along your photos from the day’s activities. We would like to include them in our First Annual Bike-A-Thon Album!

Here are some of the wonderful raffle prizes

A bike repair kit valued at $80 from The Bikeway Source of Bedford

Two Bicycle Helmets from Pietzo Electric Bikes

Citizens Bank

From Citizens Bank:

• 14 Tickets to the Aquarium valued at $18 each
• 4 Tickets to the Museum of Science
• 4 Tickets to the Museum of Fine Arts
• 4 Tickets to the Boston Children’s Museum

A 1 lb bag of coffee From Peet's Coffee and Tea

A $25 gift certificate from Shaw’s Supermarket

A $25 gift certificate from Verrill Farm

Water Centric’s “Bike-A-Thon and Cookout” at picturesque Great Brook Farm on July 31 is just 10 days away!

REGISTER TODAY and save $10!

• Adults – $20
• Students – $15
• Kids 10 and under – free
• Family cap – $50

Note: All rates will go up after July 29

Reasons to sign up right now:

• You’ll get a good workout -be it on your road or mountain bike or hiking the lovely trails!
• Fun with friends-old and new
• A delicious cookout partially sponsored by Red Bones, Bertucci’s, and Whole Foods
• You get to support a great cause!
• Participate in our raffle – watch this space for the wonderful prizes and sponsors!

Water Centric raises funds to support thousands of school children that are among the 1.2 billion people without clean water, and the over 2.6 billion people without sanitation or any form of toilets.

Your donations go directly to aid over 10,000 school children in Water Centric’s ten-school project in Delhi, India, which provides water stations, toilets, and septic tanks, along with the hygiene education — so essential to improving health and cleanliness – and giving young children the right start in life. Your donation is fully tax deductible as Water Centric is a 501c (3) non-profit organization.

You can see some of the impact Water Centric has been making in our short video.

REGISTER TODAY!

Pedal for a great cause by joining Water Centric’s first annual bike-a-thon on July 31, 2010 at beautiful Great Brook Farm in Carlisle, MA! There will be a 50 mile ride, leaving at 8am; and a 15-20 mile ride, leaving at 10am. Plus, Great Brook Farm has 1,000 acres of walking, hiking, and biking trails, if you prefer. There are also farm animals, homemade ice cream, ancient historic Native American and settler sites, and lots of beautiful countryside.

We’re also pleased to announce that Red Bones Barbeque of Somerville will be providing delicious pulled pork as part of the after bike/hike cookout at noon, and Whole Foods will be providing Goody Bags for all.

To get more information and to register please click here: http://www.watercentric.org/bike-a-thon.html

Please spread the word about Water Centric’s bike-a-thon among your family, friends, and colleagues and help support this great cause! All proceeds will go directly to Water Centric’s ten-school project, which supplies clean water, toilets, and hygiene education to needy schools in the developing world, and helps young children get the right start!