Havre's 6K for water exceeds donation goal

The WorldVision 6K for Water returned to Havre Sunday with local resident April Taber leading a bigger team than ever, running as part of a global event to collect donations to help provide clean water to under-developed countries and raise awareness about the issue.

The 6K for Water event, run by WorldVision, a Christian humanitarian aid organization, sees more than 500 teams around the world traveling six kilometers, the average length women and children must walk to get water in many of the countries they seek to help - water that is likely contaminated.

Taber said she's been running the event in Havre for five years now, and donations get better and better each year even when they had to go online for COVID-19.

"Yes, it's fun to get together, yes, it's fun to just visit and have a nice day, but the whole point of it is the fundraising to try to help get people clean water," she said. "... It's always a good day to help people."

She said $50 can provide a person in one of these countries with clean water and this year they've already raised $3,860, well over their goal of $3,500, and donations are still open until July 15.

This year, the Havre team ran at Patterson Park, doing a series of laps before having lunch and a drawing for prizes.

The World Health Organization reports that 785 million people lack even a basic drinking-water service, including 144 million people who are dependent on surface water, and at least 2 billion people who use a drinking water source that is contaminated.

Studies conducted by WHO indicate that thousands of people die every day from maladies caused by contaminated water.

Taber said the organization will still be accepting donations through July 15 and if anyone is still interested in donating they can go to https://global6k.worldvision.org/participant/apriltaber .

She also said she wanted to thank the myriad businesses and organizations that have supported the event like Aquatana for supplying water and Infinity Bakery for providing cookies for race day as well as the businesses who donated gift cards for participant door prizes like Gram's Ice Cream, Nalivka's Original Pizza Kitchen, Jenny's Kitchen, RigaTony's, Balanced Body Studio, Creative Yogurt, Top Hat Salon, Henny Penny Cupcakes, Gary & Leo's Fresh Foods, 406 Roasting Company, Big Sky Soul and Dairy Queen.

She said she'd also like to thank Community Alliance Church for their support as well as giving thank-yous to the participants for their donations as well as family, friends and community members for their monetary support.