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Purpose Prize

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The Latest from CoGenerate

Event Recording: Can Intergenerational Connection Heal Us?

Event Recording: Can Intergenerational Connection Heal Us?

A new report from CoGenerate, Can Intergenerational Connection Heal Us?, reveals the critical role that hundreds, if not thousands, of community organizations play in bringing generations together to reduce social isolation and loneliness while providing connection,...

Join the fight to save AmeriCorps

Join the fight to save AmeriCorps

AmeriCorps is in jeopardy.  Like so many other critical programs and services, AmeriCorps is at risk of being dismantled by DOGE, with programs shuttered and 85% of agency staff now on administrative leave.  As a result, nearly 40,000 communities across the nation may...

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Jin Zidell

Blue Planet Run
Purpose Prize Fellow 2009

Jin started Blue Planet Run to provide safe drinking water to people in the developing world.

Unsafe drinking water is a chief agent of health-related sickness and death worldwide, leading to more than 2 million deaths a year. Zidell, whose professional endeavors have included scrap iron/steel processing and real estate development, started Blue Planet Run Foundation in 2002 at age 63. The goal: to deliver safe drinking water to 200 million people by 2027. Blue Planet Run created the Peer Water Exchange, a global online network through which nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) work together to vet, select, manage, and monitor water projects funded by Blue Planet Run, other foundations, and individuals. As peers vet each other's projects, they are able to learn from each other and inform their own work. For example, an African NGO belonging to the Peer Water Exchange installed a hand pump that brought safe drinking water to 300 villagers after learning from an Indian member of the network about purchasing parts for 50 percent less. Blue Planet Run has funded more than 300 projects in 21 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, serving more than 300,000 people and fostering economic development in those areas. Says Zidell: "Gaining access to safe drinking water is the first step on the ladder out of poverty. Children go to school. Women become respected members of their communities,and these communities grow."