15,200-Mile Global Journey to Fund Safe Drinking Water

According to the Blue Planet Run Foundation news release, a historic around the world relay has reached its final destination in New York City, marking the amazing three-month feat, that raised funds as well as awareness to deliver safe drinking water to those 1.1 billion who live without it.

The three-month run was a 15,200-mile journey that began in the United Nations on June 1st. During this run, the Blue Planet Run team ran relay style 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through Europe, Russia, Asia, Canada and the United States. The team endured battering heat in the Gobi Desert, as well as the tremendous heat in the United States. The run went on for 95 days and 16 countries.

The Blue Planet Run Foundation which is a non profit group organized the run to inspire people all around the world to donate money that would help fund grassroots safe drinking water projects throughout rural communities. It is said that with every $30 given, one person can have safe drinking water for the rest of their life. As of today, the Blue Planet Run Foundation provides funding to 135 water projects in 13 countries. And with statistics showing 2.2 million people dying of diseases, most of which are children, related to unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene, those 135 water projects need to be tripled.

Jin Zidell, the CEO and Founder of Blue Planet Run Foundation says that, "\the goal of the Blue Planet Run is to deliver by hand a message to communities around the world about the need for universal access to safe drinking water, and to raise money to help make that a reality, from all ages around the globe, the Blue Planet Run proved that human beings from different cultures and walks of life have a remarkable ability to bring out the absolute best in each other when we simply communicate, face-to-face."