College Park Students Rally Behind Quench with a Public Health Mission

It's time to get word out about a new organization on campus. It's called Quench, and their mission is one that falls right in line with the mission of public health.

According to Water for Schools, 50 percent of all schools worldwide don't have access to clean, safe drinking water, and 4,500 people die every day from water-related diseases, 90 percent of whom are children.

Students at College Park are doing something about it, joining with Water for Schools to raise $5,000 to provide clean drinking water for a school in an underdeveloped country. Earlier this month, Janet Anderson and SPH supported the Quench mission by donating a portion of the proceeds from the Mind & Body Games.

Tonight, the organization will be holding an awareness event featuring a talk by director for Water for Schools, Lane Wood. It's at 7:30 p.m. in the grand ballroom of the Stamp Student Union. A "Meet and Greet" will follow at Cornerstone, from which 50 percent of all cover will go toward Quench's $5,000 goal.

You can learn more about the Quench and contribute to their mission at mycharitywater.org/umd. Questions can be directed to QUENCH co-founder and president, Jackie, at jackievo@umd.edu. You can also join the Facebook group.

Health Turtle sat down with Jackie to get the scoop.

Healthy Turtle: Why is the mission of Quench is important?
Jackie V.: Quench's mission is so important because water is the world's most basic resource, yet one in six people don't have access to clean, safe water. It is something many of us in the developed world take for granted, and we want to educate Maryland students about this and make them better global citizens. Also, it gives us the opportunity to make an impact on this crisis with visible change by directly funding a well for a school in the developing world.

HT: I watched the video on the website about the start of the program, and the significance of September. I notice that much of UMD's fund raising efforts are occurring in October and November. How come? What happens when these last 41 days are up... Can people still donate after that?

JV: While September certainly was an important month, we've been given the chance through the Water For Schools program at charity:water to fund raise for three months. Our campaign started Sept. 1 and lasts until Dec. 1. It has taken us a lot of effort to put together meaningful events, which is why most of them were not in September. While September has significance for charity:water, it doesn't directly impact our efforts because we are working for the Water For Schools campaign, not the Born In September campaign (although that video explains most of what we're doing too!). When these last days are up, people can no longer add to our totals for this campaign. All the money we raised by Dec. 1 will be turned over to start building a well for a school. While we wait to raise money, people wait to get clean water, so we don't want to hold up that process! However, we can start a new campaign after that, but it probably won't be until the spring.

HT: This is a school-wide effort. Who all has been involved so far?

JV: Fat Tino's Pizzeria has sponsored our waterwalk, passersby have donated change, and SPH donated money from the Mind and Body Games Day. Our "Water Renewed" presentation is being sponsored by Quench, Alpha Chi Omega, Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Gamma, Caribbean Student Association, African Student Association, African Students Progressive Action Committee, and Am Ha'Aretz. As you can see, the Greek community has done a lot so far. Also, men's head soccer coach, Sasho Cirovski, has gotten involved...Stay tuned for more details on that!

HT: When and how did the UMD branch of Quench start?

JV: Quench is only a UMD student group, so we are the only branch! It started just a few short months ago when Mariam Eshete (Vice President of Quench) and I sat down and decided to form a student group to raise awareness and money for this issue.