January 5th is just another day on the calendar for most people. But if you are on the volunteer staff of Wheels for Wells, it is a noteworthy day. Wheels for Wells has established an aggressive Social Networking campaign, via Facebook and Twitter, to have all of it’s fans (1800+) contact their entire address book about donating their Status towards the upcoming summer fundraiser.

They are asking people to donate the following message as their status: “Wheels for Wells is looking for Cyclists & Volunteers needed for a tour this summer to bring clean water to thousands. Details at www.wheelsforwells.org. Please donate your Facebook and Twitter today!”
 
 The hope is that Facebook and Twitter users will see this message and go to the Wheels for Wells website and register to either ride or volunteer for the event. The organization did a similar campaign on Dec 5th, 2009 and were able to recruit 12 new riders for the cause, which will equate to $30,000 in rider registrations.
 
“We had tremendous success with last month’s campaign and we hope this brings more momentum to this month’s campaign. These rider registrations are crucial for us as we strive to raise $200,000 for clean water projects in Africa,” said Christopher Carr, Director of Wheels for Wells. 
 
According to the Wheels for Wells website “one child dies every 15 seconds due to lack of access to clean drinking water and sanitation.”  The group is looking to fight the water crisis by using the $200,000 they hope to raise to build wells and do more extensive water projects throughout the locations they serve in North West Africa.   
 
Wheels for Wells was developed as a division of Compassion Corps  www.compassion-corps.com in April of 2009.  Since that time, they have been looking for 90 riders who will join their cause in a relay ride across America to raise money and awareness for the water crisis in Africa.  To date, they have been able to raise $130,000 in rider commitments. For more information, visit www.wheelsforwells.org