Kinseth Hospitality Companies Bring Clean Water to Communities in Need with the KiliMaji Project

Written By: Les Kinseth (KHC President and Project Co-Founder) and Ashley Starr Kinseth (Project Co-Founder and Human Rights Lawyer)

Kinseth Hospitality Companies has a longstanding commitment to environmental and social responsibility and to giving back to the communities we work with. Be it through our partnership with Give Kids the World, our Green Mark Award Program, or contributing to local communities through our Hospitality To-Go Program. As a company we believe that doing good and doing well should go hand in hand.

This Memorial Day, KHC has taken its global citizenship one step further by helping to bring safe, clean drinking water to communities in need. To that end, KHC has partnered with the KiliMaji Project, which aims to raise $62,000 over the course of the summer to fund two community water projects in Rwanda. In doing so we hope to help change the lives of hundreds of individuals.

About the KiliMaji Project
The KiliMaji Project is the brainchild of KHC’s own President Les Kinseth and his daughter Ashley Starr Kinseth. They first dreamed up the Project back in 2010, when they decided they wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for a good cause. Although work and law school delayed their plans over the next four years, they continued to brainstorm how they could use their climb to make a difference. The pair soon realized that there was no cause more fundamental other than providing communities in need access to safe, clean drinking water. The father, daughter combo jumped at the opportunity to support this cause after deciding to make their climb a reality this upcoming August 2014.

Why Water?
Lack of clean water is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths throughout the world. Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable: each day, 5,000 children die from water-related illnesses. In many places, women and children bear the brunt of water collection, walking as much as three hours each day to collect water that is often contaminated. The time spent walking and resulting diseases keep them from school, work, and taking care of their families.

Bringing clean water to communities in need is incredibly simple and relatively inexpensive. One hand-dug well costs just a few thousand dollars, but provides access to clean water for hundreds of people for years to come. With $62,000, the KiliMaji Project’s chosen recipient organization, charity: water, will be able to fully fund two state-of-the-art community water projects—including wells and tap stands, water committees, and sanitation and hygiene programs—in the Rulindo District of Rwanda.

Help Us Get Started
Starting on Memorial Day, guests will be able to add $1 or more to their room bill or make a cash donation to the KiliMaji Project by visiting the front desk of any KHC property.

Help us launch the Project by liking our Facebook page, by following us on Twitter, and by spreading the word among friends and associates. You can also make a beeline for the Project’s charity: water campaign page, where you can help us get an early jump on fundraising by making a tax-deductible donation via credit/debit card or PayPal. 100% of the money raised by the Project will be used to fund clean water solutions in the Rulindo District of Rwanda. Once the wells are complete in early 2016, we’ll post GPS coordinates and satellite images.

Learn more about the KiliMaji Project and follow Les and Ashley on their journey to raise awareness as they prepare to climb Mount Kilimanjaro this August at www.kilimajiproject.org