Pomona Grange presents Public Service Award to Emma Rider

The Sussex County Pomona Grange Public Service Award was presented to Emma Rider of Milton at the Pomona Grange’s annual picnic. Emma is going into her senior year at Sussex Tech High School.

When she was 13, her concerns about “a child dies every 10 seconds due to a water-related disease” led her to organize Emma Rider’s Shoes for Water project, Quenching Soles. Over the past 3 l/2 years, Rider has collected over 80,000 pairs of old and new shoes.

Her efforts have generated enough money to purchase 40 Water Step chlorinators, bringing pure water to potentially 40 communities.

Emma personally installed three of these chlorinators in Kenya and also taught Kenyans about health, hygiene, clean water, and how to maintain the systems for maximum use. Through her determination and that of others, the waterborne disease fatality statistic is now down to one child every 30 seconds.

Emma is available to set up more shoe drops and will speak about her project. Contact her at emma.rider@waterstep.org or go to www.waterstep.org for more information about the nonprofit organization.