The arts enhance and beautify our lives, but art can be a vehicle to help make real, life-changing improvements for people. For example, artists and arts organizations often sponsor charitable activities such as art auctions, exhibits and concerts that raise money in support of feeding the hungry.
The United Nations and World Health Organization estimate that 1.7 million deaths each year from water-borne diseases such as diarrhea are preventable through clean water, safe hygiene practices, and adequate sanitation. I have committed as an artist to contribute a portion of each art sale to help people in communities throughout the world suffering from no clean water source. I'm partnering with Operation Blessing and the Living Water Wells and Cisterns mission.
From their website: "Operation Blessing deals with this challenge head-on by drilling bore wells to provide clean water and maximizing the benefits of these water sources by providing hygiene education and sanitation facilities. Each bore well can provide clean drinking water for several hundred villagers. In some areas individual family wells are provided. Since 1999, the Living Water program has provided clean water for over 4.2 million people through more than 9,700 bore wells in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
When the terrain makes drilling impossible, cisterns are built to collect rainwater and provide for an extended family of up to 10 people. Although the rainwater must be purified by boiling, an accessible water supply greatly improves the quality of life for villagers and saves several hours a day fetching water from sources that are usually polluted. To date, more than 7,200 cisterns have been completed in China."
This is an exciting project personally, since it provides a way for me and the art collectors that purchase my work to conspire together to make a meaningful, positive impact on others' lives. A purchase of Jay Raymond art triggers a contribution to Operation Blessing's Living Water Wells and Cisterns. The first contribution was made last week based on all 2010 art sales. Thank you to all of the collectors that purchased artwork last year. Together, we helped make a difference!
The United Nations and World Health Organization estimate that 1.7 million deaths each year from water-borne diseases such as diarrhea are preventable through clean water, safe hygiene practices, and adequate sanitation. I have committed as an artist to contribute a portion of each art sale to help people in communities throughout the world suffering from no clean water source. I'm partnering with Operation Blessing and the Living Water Wells and Cisterns mission.
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| Wells in Nigeria bring clean drinking water to 6,000 villagers. |
When the terrain makes drilling impossible, cisterns are built to collect rainwater and provide for an extended family of up to 10 people. Although the rainwater must be purified by boiling, an accessible water supply greatly improves the quality of life for villagers and saves several hours a day fetching water from sources that are usually polluted. To date, more than 7,200 cisterns have been completed in China."
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