Through a six-month-long fundraising stunt for his internship, Heideman Raised $4,000 that went toward providing 100 filters, allowing 100 families in the Dominican Republic to have access to clean drinking water for up to ten years.
Heideman learned about the faith-based nonprofit organization Filter of Hope, which works to provide clean drinking water while sharing the gospel, by participating in Campus Cru, a religious organization at Ball State.
Heideman said learning that 800 million people in the world don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water and that 4,000 children die every day because of unclean drinking water shocked him and further motivated him to apply for the internship.
Interns at Filter of Hope have the opportunity to visit one of the seven countries the organization sends filters to, but first they must do fundraising.
“Josh was incredibly dedicated.
"Josh understood that what he was really doing was not going on a trip, but providing as many people as he could with clean water.” Johnson said Heideman set the record for most individual donors and has “demonstrated more persistence than any other intern.” In December, Heideman traveled to the Dominican Republic to give out filters and show people how to use and maintain them through basic hygiene training sessions.
When first demonstrating how the filter works, Heideman had to drink the water to prove it was safe.
We saw a lot of confusion because in the filter, you can put dirty water, any type of water quality — even with waterborne illness and cholera — and the water comes out just as clean as American tap water,” Heideman said.
Some older people didn’t even trust it at first.” During the trip, Heideman said he was impacted by the experiences he had and the people he met.
“People live the most fulfilling life when they are seeking to serve other people.