Inspiring Donor Gets Creative

Thirst Relief would like to showcase and thank Benjamin Corey, of Corey Pro Photography, who creatively used his own business to help save lives. His ingenuity and humanitarian outlook helped raise the funds for the following project which will be completed in July.

Location: Cameroon, in the Eastern portion of Kumbo.

Project Type: WASH

This is a project far a school that will provide all the needed clean water for the teachers and children as well as sanitation and hygiene training. The name of the school is Government Primary School Yer. There are 535 students and 8 teachers. The school is expecting to have more students once summer break ends.

Seven Biosand filters and a latrine are being installed and 25 pupils will be trained as “The Water Club”. This water club will be composed of 5 students per class and these 5 will go back and teach the rest of their classmates. The school is including the hygiene and sanitation lessons in their school program for the entire school to get involved.

The parents will also be educated by the children at home.

The education is so vital for initiating and continuing practices that save the lives of both the children and parents.

The filters and latrine are so vital to keeping the children healthy and able to attend classes regularly.

What a huge impact Ben had on the lives of so many – all because he made a manageable sacrifice.

Here’s how his idea came to fruition:  

Last wedding season Ben got a call from a really good friend in the wedding photography business. He explained that he had a rapidly approaching wedding which he was now unable to shoot, and asked if Ben would be willing to fill in for him. Ben happily agreed and made the 10 hour round-trip trek to shoot the wedding on his friend’s behalf. During the long drive home, it occurred to Ben that he had basically just given away a wedding; in any other circumstance, he would have been paid several thousand dollars to do the work. Yet, he was truly happy to do this for his friend, and would do it all over again if asked.

Then, a revelation hit Ben. He asked himself, “Why don't I give away another wedding? This time, I could give the wedding to Thirst Relief International, who I've enjoyed partnering with over the last few years.” He realized that $5 could save a life, so how many lives could he save after donating all the proceeds from a wedding? The idea made perfect sense, so he ran with it and decided that whatever wedding fell closest to Independence Day of 2011, he'd donate all the funds to Thirst Relief to help people become independent from contaminated drinking water.

Once Ben had identified the wedding that was destined to be the benefit wedding for Thirst Relief, he took on the task of telling his clients about it. He had secretly hoped that it would turn out to be a socially-minded couple that would appreciate the significance of their donation. Their response: Kathleen and Brian were so excited about the benefit wedding, that they decided to make a donation of their own! It was a moment of sheer awesomeness!

Now that the wedding is over, the bank check mailed to and deposited at Thirst Relief, and the water project underway, Ben continues to realize how easy this was. Even with a stale economy that has impacted businesses, giving away just one wedding was manageable. In fact, it was an awesome experience that he would love to do again.

Here’s Ben’s challenge:

“I'll donate another wedding to Thirst Relief (whatever 2012 wedding is closest to Independence Day) if 5 other photographers will come forward, join me, and make a public commitment to donate one wedding in 2012 to Thirst Relief. Together, we can make this a movement in the industry and impact thousands of lives! Contact Thirst Relief to find out the details of a specific project that you can sponsor at info@thirstrelief.org or call them toll-free at 1-866-5THIRST. Not a photographer? Take the same concept and go for it within your own business or circles of influence. The satisfaction of knowing that lives were saved is 100% worth the sacrifice! Make a commitment today!”