Run raises $57K for drilling projects

By Mo Cranker on October 9, 2018.

NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
Participants take off from the starting line Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018 during the ninth annual Water Run. The event is held each year outside of the downtown YMCA to raise money for well drilling projects in Africa.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

Medicine Hat’s Water Run took place for the ninth consecutive year and it was bigger than ever — raising $57,000 for African well drilling projects.

The event takes place each year in support of Nehemiah Construction Ministries — a group that works to help underprivileged people in northern Kenya.

“We’re hoping to raise around $50,000 this year — that would be just amazing,” said Nehemiah founder Dave McElhinney. “We’ve been working in northern Kenya for years now and we’ve made a good bitof progress helping people out.”

Money from the Water Run will go to well drilling projects for in the Turkana region.

“As we spent more time in Africa we realized that people didn’t need building projects as much as they needed access to water,” said McElhinney. “We’ve been working there for 14 years now and we started as a building ministry.

“We saw people over there dying of water-born diseases so we decided to work on well drilling projects.”

McElhinney says he plans to continue helping when he can.

“I guess this is my calling,” he said. “It’s something I sort of stumbled into and now it’s become a passion.

“This is our ninth year and I don’t see myself quitting any time in the near future.”