Making waves of change

For many living in undeveloped countries around the world, clean water is anything but a guarantee. However, one local organization is hard at work to change that.

Neverthirst is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing clean and living water to developing countries. Their office is located off of U.S. 280 in the Edenton subdivision. The organization sends teams out to drill the clean water wells. To date they have completed more than 2,500 projects that serve more than 325,000 people. Projects have been built in South Sudan, Sudan, India and Cambodia. 

Co-founder and Executive Director Mark Whitehead worked in industrial sales for more than 20 years and admits that mission work was never on his radar. It was a sermon preached by David Platt in 2006 that propelled him forward and inspired him to go on a series of trips. One of those was to South Sudan, and he saw firsthand where people received their water. 

“They took us to a creek that was not flowing, covered in algae,” Whitehead said. “I knew right then what we needed to do.”

Whitehead, Platt and Brandon Gossett started the organization in 2008. Neverthirst also has additional volunteers, teams and leaders in each of the four countries it serves. Their solutions include bio-sand filters, piped water systems, household rainwater collection, deep wells and pump wells. Whitehead said they were unfamiliar with these systems when they first started but were eager to learn.

“This organization has opened so many doors,” said Whitehead. “It has really grown year after year.”

The organization also hosts annual fundraising events throughout the year, including an awareness campaign called WOD for Water. “WOD” is a crossfit term that stands for “Workout Of the Day.” The goal of WOD for Water is for individuals to come together and do a high-energy workout while helping Neverthirst raise money to provide clean water.

The Hoover community has been an active supporter of the organization. Since the summer of 2012, Shades Crest Baptist Church member Micah Smith has organized lemonade stands to raise money for Neverthirst. Since 2012, these stands have raised more than $14,000 to drill five clean water wells, all located in India. The wells have provided clean water to more than 2,500 people. 

The Hoover Youth well was funded by the 2013 lemonade stand. Not only did youth from Shades Crest Baptist come and help, but multiple others from Hunter Street Baptist Church and Bluff Park Community Church volunteered their time. The Hoover Youth well is in the village of Shahpur, located in the district of Jehanabad in Bihar, India, and will serve 15 families. 

“Since so many of Hoover’s youth helped man the lemonade stands, it was only fitting that the well funded would be named in honor of them,” said Smith.

For more, visit neverthirstwater.org.