The PALS raised more money during the Well Aware Shower Strike—$8,470—than any other school group. As a result, representatives from Well Aware visited the PALS class during sixth period on Tuesday May 21, throwing them a pizza party celebration as a thank you for their fund-raising effort.

The Shower Strike is the single biggest fundraiser annually for Well Aware, a non-profit organization based in Austin and in Kenya, which focuses on implementing sustainable clean water systems in communities that need them. The money they raised will help about 450 people in Africa get clean, easy-to-access water.

“I didn’t expect us to raise as much money as we did so it’s very impressive,” senior PAL senior Ellaiden Margrave said. “As a class, it makes us feel like we are able to make a change.”

CEO Sarah Evans and marketing manager Dani Daspit represented Well Aware and brought a pizza party to the PALS. Evans spoke to the PALS students, thanking them for participating in the shower strike. 

“I was a lawyer before and had a really good job, but I left that job to do this. so I think that speaks to how much joy, fulfillment and purpose in life it brings me,” Evans told the PALS.

The student raised money during the Shower Strike by walking around the school carrying around big buckets to ask for donations. They also all went on a unified shower strike to preserve water and to publicize the inequitable access to water around the world. Everyone in PALS participated in the shower strike, but only four did the full shower strike by avoiding running water for the entire week of the strike, April 22-30. Most did water-conserving showers, either three-minute daily military showers or bucket baths.

“I had a lot of fun raising money for this cause,” Margrave said, “and it was even better because I knew it was helping people on the other side of the world get fundamental necessities.”

Mejia said that the PALS drew a lot of questions from peers during the week of the Shower Strike.

“I heard a lot of students sort of questioning it, saying that it was gross and different, but I personally think it meant a lot being able to contribute to a cause that is going to help people out,” senior Ana Meija said. “The whole point of this strike is to raise awareness towards this situation.”

PALS teacher Richard Cowles spent three years in Chad in the Peace Corps and said Tuesday that the experience changed his views on how severe the world water shortage can be for communities who lack an available source of potable water.

“Living in a country, seeing firsthand how clean water is a huge struggle really makes you aware of the situation some people have to go through,” Cowles said.