While most freshman were finding their classes, Chrissy Pfeiffer, The Thirst Project @ Purdue’s founder and president, was finding her calling. Chrissy recognized the needs of others and began a club at Purdue dedicated to serving. Read on to learn more about this incredible organization, how to become involved, and get to know the organization’s fearless leader:
Age: 21
Year: Junior
Major: Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
Tell HC some basics about the Thirst Project:
Thirst Project is a non-profit organization committed to ending the global water crisis. Founded in 2008 by a college student, we are a revolution of high school and college students coming together for one cause. It only takes $20 to save a life which is crazy!
What inspired you to start the Thirst Project?
Seth Maxwell, the founder, went to my high school and came to speak to my science class senior year and it was just something I couldn’t ignore. It took some time, but my freshmen year at Purdue I decided to give my everything to Thirst Project and my life forever changed. If it wasn’t for Seth, my life would have taken a completely different path. He is one of my closest friends, biggest supporters, and my role model.
What sort of things are you responsible for as the president and founder?
As the President and Founder, I am responsible for a lot. I create videos, organize and plan meetings, keep the 8 Board members in check and just try to persuade people to join. There is a lot of behind the scenes stuff that I do as well including helping the Thirst Project form new chapters at different colleges. Being the first successful college that reached out to Thirst Project instead of them reaching out to us, Purdue is seen as a leader of Thirst Project at college and I help contact new schools and talk to them about how to start Thirst Project on their campus.
What are some of the biggest challenges of being president?
The most difficult thing about being President is time management. It is really hard to accomodate the entire Board’s schedule as well as my own. Sometimes I find myself waking up early or in the middle of the night to jot down notes or ideas.
What has been your biggest success as president?
Thirst Project @ Purdue funded our first well this past semester in Uganda. The well will be built this semester. We fundraised $6,213 to fund the well. Thirst Project has provided over 50,000 people with clean water and reached over 250,000 students in their school program. Right now we are focused on the country Swaziland who has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world with over 75% of the population having AIDS. AIDS and water have a direct link because even with anti-viral medication, if there is no clean water, the contaminated water is killing the people faster than the AIDS. Contaminated water is the #1 killer of children globally over world violence and AIDS combined.
What is your proudest moment of being involved with the Thirst Project?
My proudest moment in Thirst Project would have to be funding our first well. But my all time favorite moment was when I went to Africa in November 2010 with Thirst Project and visited Swaziland. Seeing the water crisis first hand changed my life in ways I can’t describe and looking back it was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I met people who have forever changed me. It made me see that I easily could have been born into the water crisis. That is why I fight for these people, because I could only hope that someone would fight for me if I was on the other side.
How can other students get involved in the Thirst Project?
Students can get involved in Thirst Project by attending meetings or events. We have a facebook page and all of our meetings and events are posted on there. They can also join our mailing list — thirstprojectatpurdue@gmail.com and receive updates. It is little time commitment with a HUGE impact. Other campuses can also get involved by emailing the same account with interest in starting up.
Do you have any other on-campus activities?
We do a lot of fundraising and on March 25th we are having our first annual 5k for $5k. People can donate on www.crowdrise.com/5kfor5k
What are your future plans after graduation?
After graduation I will actually be working for Thirst Project, which happens to be my dream job. I will be working with the School Program and getting more students involved. I want Thirst Project to change other student’s lives like it has changed mine.
One thing on your graduation bucket list:
I want to do the cliché skydiving thing.
What are some things you like to do in your free time?
I like to listen to music, work at Best Buy, hang out with friends, photography, and of course Thirst Project.
One quirky thing about you:
One quirky thing about me is that I’ve been 5’0″ since I was 14 and I am often mistaken as a middle schooler.
One last take-away you want HC readers to know about the Thirst Project:
I just want people to know that the water crisis affects over 1 BILLION people and every 15 seconds a child dies due to water related illness. But there is a way to change that, one person can make a difference, and I am the perfect example. If you would have told me 2 years ago that I would have funded a well, started a student organization, and planned on a career in the non-profit world I would have laughed and said no way, now there is nothing I could want more and Thirst Project is my life. One person can make a big difference and it all starts right now.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Purdue chapter.