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1.1 billion people -roughly one-sixth of the world's population -do not have access to safe drinking water. In Africa, the average distance women must walk to collect drinkable water is 3.6 miles. When people devote such a large chunk of every single day just trying to ensure that their family will have a pot of drinkable water, little time and energy remain to farm, cook, take care of their family, work to make money outside the home, or go to school to get an education. Yet hundreds of millions of women and children face this dilemma every day.That is why the Interact club at Franklin High School is hosting Franklin's first ever Blue Planet Run charity event -The Franklin Blue Planet 5K for Clean Water. The race will be held on Saturday, September fourth, at the Tassee Shelter on the Little Tennessee Greenway, beginning at 9:00 a.m. There will be a 5K race and a one mile fun walk/run. Following the race will be an awards ceremony and a light brunch featuring fresh fruit, freshly-baked bread, and gourmet hummus donated by Riverblaze Bakery and Jer's Kitchen. The regular entry fee is $20.00 and includes brunch and a premium eco-friendly T-shirt made in the U.S. from 100% recycled materials if registered by August 20th. Race-day registration is $25.00 and will be available the morning of the race, starting at 8:00 a.m. All of the proceeds from the race will be donated to the Blue Planet Network which funds water projects all over the world through its Peer Water Exchange -a wide network through which people review and learn from each others work and get funding to start projects that bring sustainable access to clean water to communities in need. Jin Zidell, founder of the Blue Planet Network writes: "Many organizations and publishers have set out to produce projects and books about environmental issues, but they have usually concentrated on 'those poor people over there.' Our approach is radically different. Our goal is to connect the dots, to visually demonstrate that the global water crisis is exactly that: global and something that affects us all." It is hard to grasp that a water crisis could affect the United States. We can access it so easily. With every glass filled at the sink, every flush of the toilet, every 15 minute shower we don't stop and think about women walking 3.6 miles to fill up a pot of water for their families, we don't think about children dying from diarrheal diseases, and we would never even dream that we may not always have such easy access to the water, the precious resource that sustains us, that we are exhausting faster than it can naturally be replaced. The Franklin High School interact club is hard at work to raise money and awareness for the global water crisis through the Franklin Blue Planet 5K for Clean Water. For more information about the cause, the race, or how to register or donate, visit Franklin5KforCleanWater.com, or email Canyon Woodward at info@franklin5kforcleanwater.com. (Image provided by The Franklin Blue Planet 5K.)
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