As someone who watches football every four years, allow me to say: this past month has been a blast. Not just because of the drama of the World Cup, but because I also got to watch our own squad – made up of supporters like you – show just how far teamwork can take us.

Our goal was to fund 21 water projects during the World Cup, with a generous donor matching every one. When the campaign ended on Sunday, you had funded 38 — bringing us to 74 total with the match.

Those are numbers worth celebrating… and they still don’t tell the whole story. 

When I was young, I wanted to play third base for the New York Yankees. (And also, I still do.) But in our work, we often meet children in communities without clean water whose dreams are the things we take for granted. They dream of getting an education. Staying healthy. Getting to play football with their friends.

With access to clean, safe water, those dreams have the chance to grow. Once the basics are secure, imagination has somewhere to go. Kids can stop thinking about what they need, and start thinking about who they want to become. Girls like Jui can dream of becoming a lawyer. Boys like Opiyo can dream of playing football like Messi.

And four years from now, the next time you and I are tuning into the Cup, they’ll be much closer to living those dreams. Or, hey, maybe those dreams will have changed entirely. Who can say.

Either way, the chance to chase a dream is quite the gift. Thank you, as always, for giving it.