Good Samaritan from Frontier, Sask making a splash with clean water program
Helga Svee collects bottles and cans, turns them in at SARCAN for a refund, and forwards the proceeds to Samaritan’s Purse in Calgary for their water filter program which helps provide clean drinking water for families and children all over the world.
Helga Svee of Frontier cannot bottle her enthusiasm for a fundraising project that she has undertaken over the past few years.
Svee collects bottles and cans, turns them in at SARCAN for a refund, and forwards the proceeds to Samaritan’s Purse in Calgary for their water filter program which helps provide clean drinking water for families and children all over the world.
The program provides water filters for homes and schools. Svee’s efforts focus on filters for homes. The price for each filter was originally $150 and recently increased to $175. Her last trip to SARCAN in Shaunavon yielded $120.30. Svee says, “I hardly had any room left in my car the last time I made a trip to SARCAN!”
Svee says, “I have always collected bottles and cans and used the money for various donations or to buy something special for someone in need. I decided to start donating the refunds to the water filter project a few years ago. People now stop by and leave their bottles with me as well.” She recently donated funds to purchase her 26th filter.
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The filters make a significant difference in the health of the recipients who no longer have to drink dirty water. Svee says, “It makes such a difference for their health.” A thank-you card from children in Cambodia provided further encouragement to Svee. She explains, “It was a coloring page with a picture of two children standing, holding two glasses of clean water and they wrote, ‘Thank you for clean water.’ That’s a keeper!”
Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Its President and CEO is Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham. Another of their well-known programs is Operation Christmas Child which also engages volunteers in Frontier.
Svee grew up in Frontier, then completed her final years of high school at LCBI in Outlook where she was also employed following graduation. “I moved back to Frontier after being away for 25-30 years. I love it here. The Lord has blessed me beyond measure.”
This story was originally published in The Shaunavon Standard . It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.
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