(
Katherine Adams
Grade 8
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
School: Providence Christian School of Texas, Dallas, Texas
Nonprofit organization: Paper For Water
At church, the Adams family learned that a child dies every 15 seconds from lack of clean water and that girls are not able to go to school because they spend their days hauling water for their families. This inspired Katherine Adams’ idea to use origami ornaments to raise money for clean water projects. Katherine and her older sister, Isabelle, learned the art of origami from their father.
With the goal of raising $500 at a month-long drive held at a Starbucks, the girls gave origami ornaments as thank you gifts for donations. Fast forward nine years and Katherine’s Power of Children Awards nominator Kayla McCaffrey says their organization, Paper For Water (PFW), has raised over $2 million for the drilling of over 200 clean water wells and other hygiene services in the Navajo nation and 20 countries (including Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Peru, Mexico and others). “The water projects we fund are often located at schools or community centers,” said Katherine. “Without basic access to clean water, children are unable to attend school because they are sick from dirty water, so the cycle of poverty continues.” Katherine has become a sought-after public speaker and the organization hosts nearly 20 origami-folding events a year to support its cause.
Paper For Water is a nonprofit organization that now brings clean water to 70,000 people a year and engages over 3,000 volunteers. It partners with Living Water International for overseas projects and DigDeep to install water systems in the Navajo nation.
Katherine intends to use her POCA grant to train additional young volunteers in leadership and management skills to help grow PFW’s mission.
To learn more about Paper For Water, visit www.paperforwater.org
