A Challenge for the Nutritionally Minded!

By James Burks, The Groundwater Foundation Board Chair

When we consider the nutrients our body requires for staying healthy, how often do our initial thoughts go to the foods we eat or possibly nutritional supplements we take? Furthermore, how much consideration do we actually give to the most vital nutrient our body demands, WATER. Other than the air we breathe, water is the most essential element necessary to sustain human life.

While many factors influence how long a person can survive without food or water (i.e. age, weight, environment, overall health, etc.), water is clearly the most vital. It is believed that a person can survive as long as 30 to 40 days without food as long as they maintain proper hydration. On the other hand, the effects of dehydration on the human body, due to lack of drinking water, can result in death in as little as three days (one week is considered maximum).

This blogger is in no way encouraging anyone to test the capacity of the human body to endure the lack of either food or water. I do simply wish to spark a heightened awareness of the importance of the water we drink and provoke thought and action toward responsible use of this vital resource.

Please consider assisting The Groundwater Foundation in
KEEPING IT CLEAN!

25 Years -- A Festival Celebration!

By Jane Griffin, The Groundwater Foundation

 

It’s worth saying it one more time…so let’s congratulate the Central Platte Natural Resources District for continuing the annual Children’s Groundwater Festival.  This year marked the 25^th Anniversary; you can read all about this successful event in an article which was published in the Lincoln Journal Star:

http://journalstar.com/news/opinion/editorial/editorial-groundwater-festival-a-treasure/article_f1f61571-d804-5aa0-b0f1-26c5e0bbdb98.html

Are there any festivals in your area?  Share your news with us!

Happy Mother's Day!

by Lori Davison, The Groundwater Foundation

 

This Sunday, May 12, Mother’s Day will be celebrated around the world.   Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 after her mother’s death as a way of honoring the sacrifices mothers made for their children.   After gaining financial backing from a Philadelphia department store owner named John Wanamaker, in May 1908, she organized the first official Mother’s Day celebration at a Methodist church in Grafton, West Virginia.  That same day also saw thousands of people attend a Mother’s Day event at one of Wanamaker’s retail stores in Philadelphia. 

Following the success of her first Mother’s Day, Jarvis—who remained unmarried and childless her whole life—resolved to see her holiday added to the national calendar.  Arguing that American holidays were biased toward male achievements, she started a massive letter writing campaign to newspapers and prominent politicians urging the adoption of a special day honoring motherhood.  By 1912, many states, towns and churches had adopted Mother’s Day as an annual holiday, and Jarvis had established the Mother’s Day International Association to help promote her cause.  Her persistence paid off in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day.

Anna Jarvis was persistent in creating a holiday to honor Mothers—a very precious resource.  We also must be persistent about protecting another precious resource—groundwater!  To learn more how you can help protect and conserve groundwater, go to www.groundwater.org.

A Non-profit's Dream

By Jamie Kelley, The Groundwater Foundation

“The next time you’re looking at a charity… Ask about the scale of their dreams.” This statement, really stuck out from a TED Talk I recently viewed. (You can view the entire, very interesting, talk here.

 

Why? Maybe because I work for a non-profit, maybe because I like the idea of someone asking me… “What are the dreams of The Groundwater Foundation?” Or maybe because it has made me think, like any good TED Talk, that the next time, and every time after, when someone asks me, “What do you do?” My response will be, “I work for an organization, that dreams of a world with sustainable, clean groundwater. Where everyone understands how it impacts their life, and where everyone acts responsibly on its behalf. I work each day to find innovative ways to teach about groundwater and find reasons that will inspire people to conserve and protect this vital resource. Collectively we can make a difference.”

 

Dream big, right? Is it possible? I don’t know, but I do know it’s worth the effort because groundwater is such an important resource, not just to me, or the organization that I work for, but to the entire world.

 

Join us in our efforts.