In September 2008, Life Teen hosted the first global Life Night. As one family we donated more than 450,000 pounds of clothing to charity. In September 2009, we moved from clothing to food and were able to donate more than 200,000 food items to local food pantries and soup kitchens. This year we are at it again. This time we are joining together to “give drink to the thirsty” (another corporal work of mercy). We are asking all our Life Teen parishes to do the same Life Night and Edge Night on the same night – September 26, 2010. This time we are collecting change (and bills) to help bring clean drinking water to villages in Africa.
Give It Away Now – Thirst for Change Poster
This year, we are asking parishes to host a “change drive.” The money collected will be donated to W.A.T.E.R., an organization that works closely with Catholic Relief Services to build and maintain water wells in Africa. As in years past, this type of service project will take a lot of advance planning and advertisement. At least one month before the Life Night, let the teens and the entire parish know about the change drive. Use Facebook, bulletin announcements, emails and phone calls to get the word out. Encourage the teens and their families to collect and save all their extra change. Challenge the teens to make a bigger donation by setting aside some of their allowance and/or paycheck to donate to this cause. At each Life Night leading up to this night, remind the teens about the change drive. If possible, make an announcement (and pass out flyers) at each of the Sunday Masses the week before the change drive. Encourage the entire parish to get involved. Set a parish goal of a certain amount and see if the parish can surpass the goal!
Drag and Gary “Give It Away Now” from Life Teen on Vimeo.
In the coming weeks, we will have more information for you to use in your Life Night or Edge Night. We pray that this night will be a blessing to your parish family and to our brothers and sisters who suffer in Africa.
Life Night *Free Download*
Give It Away Now – Thirst for Change
Hello,
I’m president of the youth group here at my parish in Virginia. I would love for my parish to be involved! How to do we enter and where would we send the money?
Hi Bianca, just open up the Life Night or Edge Night and there will be instructions for where to send your money. You don’t have to enter, you just have to do the night. Peace!
-Ryan Miller
http://www.catholicyouthministry.com/give-it-away-now-thirst-for-change-2
We are excited to be part of Life Teen’s Give It Away event !
You can find more information about the event on our website at http://waterinafrica.org/news/life-teen-info
Take a look at the rest of the website to see how your fundraising will be changing lives. Thanks!
-W.A.T.E.R.