Getting Creative for Clean Water

This past June, students at The Manhattan School for Children (P.S. 333) held an art auction to raise awareness about water scarcity and create a beautiful impact as part of our Gallons of Change project.

Bernard Winter, teacher and afterschool art program director, began the project by sharing with his students about water scarcity. Most of his students grew up in New York City, which has some of the best tap water in the world, and they were struck by the number of people who struggle to get water every day.

Quilt squares on display at the Manhattan School for Children

As they studied water scarcity, the students also learned about artists whose work was inspired by water-related themes. Eventually, he challenged them to choose their own watery images to make a mixed media embroidered folk “quilt." Combining felt, cloth, glue, burlap, and yarn, students made artwork showing rainbows, clouds, waves, boats, swimmers, and fish, and then auctioned off their squares, raising enough to fund a well for a school in north India!

Their well was dedicated on September 9th, with a joyful ribbon cutting ceremony–an event that made the local news!

Cutting the ribbon to dedicate the new wel!

Clean water is good news!!

This little project is a big deal, because the well at the New Future Education Centre English Medium School now serves hundreds of people every single day. Access to clean water means that these students can stay in school, instead of spending their time looking for water.

If you want to bring health and hope to students who need it, right now, you can help provide clean water for kids at three more schools. And, your gift today will be 100% matched!