Today we’d like to introduce you to Todd Phillips.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The Last Well began as a grass-roots movement of young adults in the Washington D.C. area. They wanted to have a dramatic impact on the world in their generation.
They asked two questions:
1. What’s the most challenging place in the world
2. What’s the greatest need we can meet there
They soon discovered a small country in East Africa called Liberia. At the time (2008) it was ranked as the second poorest country in the world, the second most miserable place to live on the earth, and the most corrupt country in the world.
Liberia had only a few years before also come out of a fourteen-year civil war, killing over 300,000. These young adults decided Liberia would be the place they would serve and realized that clean drinking water was the greatest need there. So, they decided, as a faith-based organization, on this mission: Provide access to safe drinking water to every Liberian, border to border, and offer the Gospel to every community we serve by 2020.
Over the past ten years, we have had the privilege of serving more than two million Liberians with clean water and the Christian message. We have 26 months to go and just under 1 million Liberians left to sever before December 31, 2020. We have a clear roadmap for the completion of our mission. When the last well is placed in the last village, Liberia will be the first developing country in human history to have universal clean water coverage.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As with any audacious goal, there are many and varied challenges. We’ve dealt with political challenges, corruption, no infrastructure, and the worst Ebola Outbreak in history in 2013-14. Yet, through it, all our teams in the field have increased their reach from one community every two weeks in 2009 (our first full year in the field) to now over eight communities reached each day, 365 days a year!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Last Well – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Our non-profit has several distinctions that set us apart from every other water provision organization in the world:
1. We have a specific end date – December 31, 2020
2. Our mission is to reach every person with clean water in an entire country for the first time in human history
3. All of our US operating expenses are covered by a small group of committed donors so that 100% of public donations go to those who need it the most
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We are looking forward to seeing our mission come to fruition on or before December 31, 2020. We are also considering invitations to bring our systems to other parts of the world as diverse as Fiji, Guatemala, and Sierra Leone.
Pricing:
- $91.60 saves a life
- $3,000 saves a village
Contact Info:
- Address: 2255 Ridge Road Suite 206A
Rockwall, Texas 750876 - Website: www.thelastwell.org
- Phone: 972-412-2912
- Email: info@thelastwell.org
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