WSCIRO  

Non-profit challenges U2 fans to change the world in 70 days - May 10th 2009

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. — March 2, 2009 — For the seventh straight year, the
African Well Fund is giving U2 fans the opportunity to change the world in
honor of Bono’s May 10 birthday. The nonprofit is using the 70 days
between the release of U2’s new album “No Line on the Horizon” and Bono’s
birthday to collect money to fund water projects in Liberia.

This year, the African Well Fund is selling limited-edition T-shirts and
buttons to raise money for the birthday well that feature this year’s “70
Days to Change the World” theme. Donations can also be made to the
birthday well through the African Well Fund’s Build a Well for Bono’s
Birthday page (http://www.africanwellfund.org/Bono-Well-2009.html). As in
years past, donors will be invited to leave birthday wishes for Bono on a
virtual card that will be forwarded to Principle Management.

The 2009 Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraiser will benefit a water,
health and hygiene improvement project in Liberia. Administered by AWF
partner organization Africare (www.africare.org), the completed project
will increase access to safe drinking water and improve sanitation and
hygiene for communities in selected districts of Nimba County, benefiting
about 7,000 people. Learn more about the project at
http://www.africanwellfund.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2746.

Access to safe drinking water remains out of reach for over 67 percent of
Liberian households, with almost 76 percent having inadequate sanitation.
Many communities in Nimba County do not have access to safe drinking water
because they never had water and sanitation facilities, or they were
pillaged or fell into disrepair during civil conflict that impacted
Liberia for 14 years, according to Africare.

Over the last seven years, U2 fans have donated more than $143,000 to
Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraisers. This money has funded
projects in Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda and Zimbabwe that have benefited
approximately 21,000 people.

The African Well Fund is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization that
was founded in 2002 by a group of U2 fans. Since that time, the African
Well Fund has raised more than $682,000, which has been used to fund more
than 120 clean water projects in sub-Saharan Africa. All donations to the
African Well Fund go directly to Africare, one of the leading private,
non-profit, charitable organizations assisting Africa. The African Well
Fund was founded to focus on one achievable goal: providing access to
clean water to everyone in Africa. The African Well Fund believes that
access to water is not merely a basic human need but a basic human right.