Independence Day has me thinking about American values. The idea of freedom comes up a lot on this day. But, American independence, to me is also about democracy, innovation, and the idea of uniting for the greater good.
That being said, I'm not a Pollyanna. At my day job, I focus on figuring out better approaches to ending urban poverty in the US. So I spend a lot of time on how we've failed as a country to live out these values for all people. It's heady work and unlike a lot of jobs, when I leave the office it's often hard to stop thinking about it. One of the many reasons that I love swimming is that the water is great place to reflect and problemsolve, and also to turn my brain off.
I think it's my optimism about democracy, innovation and unity and my love of swimming that makes me a sucker for crowdfunding efforts related to water. One that I've recently supported (and which is working to hit its fundraising goal of $250,000 in the next week) is called +Pool.
What is it? According to their Kickstarter Page, "+ POOL started with a simple goal: instead of trying to clean the entire river, what if you started by just cleaning a small piece of it? And what if you could change how New Yorkers see their rivers, just by giving them a chance to swim in it?" Their innovative solution--an amazing floating plus-shaped pool that filters the river water.
You should check out the video they've made that explains it in greater detail:
Since I'm talking about supporting creative fundraising efforts, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the one that led to the creation of this blog. There is still lots of time to sponsor me in the Swim Across America Baltimore Open Water 3-miler to raise money for cancer research. While, I'm proud to have exceeded my $1500 fundraising goal, many forms of cancer have no cure, so more funding supports greater experimentation and innovation in the fight against cancer.
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