This post was submitted by one of our contributors, Alison Storm. You can visit her website at www.AlisonStorm.com

My husband and I decided tickets to Costa Rica were a little outside our budget. And a road trip to New York City would probably cost as much as a real Gucci hand bag. So instead we decided to do something different for our summer vacation. We will spend a week riding our Vespa around the Carolinas, raising money and spreading the word about an amazing organization, Hydromissions. They are working to give children and families in third world countries access to clean drinking water.
We met the founders of Hydromissions, Steve and Jennifer Lorch, a few months back. The idea for Hydromissions came to Steve about five years ago. Steve, a surgical nurse, went to the Dominican Republic to help out at a medical clinic. In just three days he treated 800 patients and 85-percent of those people had problems that were water related. Tired of just treating the symptoms, but not the problem, Steve and Jennifer decided to do something.
Using sets of 100-year-old encyclopedias as research tools, Jennifer and Steve started inventing water pumps and drills out of bicycle parts and cheap items you might find at Home Depot. In just five years since the organization formed, Hydromissions has worked with close to 100 agencies in 30 different countries. Currently they fund all of their trips (about four a year) by selling soap they manufacture in their garage. Because we were so inspired by HydroMissions’ practical approach to this massive problem (1.1 billion people around the world don’t have access to clean water) we decided to do what we could to help them out.
The problem is huge. The statistics on the lack of access to clean water are astounding:

• At least 1 in 3 Asians has no access to safe drinking water.

• Every 15 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease. That’s 5 million children a year.

• At any given time, half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from a water-related disease.

The problem may be big, but we can do something about it. That’s why we created 2 Wheels 4 Water. The idea is simple. We are combining a topic that’s on everyone’s mind (high gas prices) with an important mission (providing access to clean drinking water.) This summer my husband and I (and whoever else wants to come!) will spend a week logging hundreds of miles through the Carolina’s on scooters, spreading the message of 2 Wheels 4 Water: Save Gas. End Thirst. With soaring gas prices, every mile driven on a scooter costs just 3.5 cents. Every mile driven in a typical car costs about 17.5 cents. We’re asking people to pledge the difference: 14 cents for every mile we cover. That money would directly fund Hydromissions’ efforts to bring access to clean drinking water to third world countries.
You can give the gift of clean water by logging on to the 2 Wheels 4 Water website, our Facebook page or our MySpace page and supporting us either through a donation or by spreading the word. It’s hard to imagine life without clean water, but for 1.1 billion people in the world, that is reality. Join us in our commitment to make a difference.

Photo Courtesy of Hydromissions.