Hands for Others, or H4O, a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit started by local teens in September 2008, has provided $10,000 to pay for a water purification system for earthquake victims in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

H4O is asking Santa Barbara students and their families to lend a hand in providing more clean water systems.

“Clean safe water is a huge need right now in Port-au-Prince. Without clean water, disease could very well kill more people than the earthquake itself,” said high school junior and H4O co-founder Spence Dusebout. “While the system we funded Wednesday will provide water for more than 5,000 people, we need help from our community right now to ensure more people can have safe drinking water.”

H4O is asking local students — of all ages and from all local schools, along with their families — to help raise enough funds for additional purification systems.

“The thing is, as teens and local students we can do something substantial to help in Haiti,” said Jaron Williams, an SBCC freshman and H4O member. “We have the ability to join together and make a real impact.”

In partnership with Water Missions International, H4O members provided the first $10,000 to pay for what they hope will be the first of many water purification systems they will send to Haiti.

“This water system requires little maintenance, runs on solar, is very fast to install, and it can be operating within hours if placed by an available water source,” Dusebout said. “With one system, we can provide enough clean and safe drinking water for more than 5,000 people each day.”

According to the H4O team, this is just the beginning of their efforts on behalf of Haiti relief. With water becoming the most critical resource in the aftermath of the earthquake, the H4O teens are asking their fellow Santa Barbara-area students to get involved.

“It’s easy to feel helpless when we see these devastating images of the earthquake in the news,” high school sophomore and H4O co-founder Jack Davies said. “That’s why we wanted to reach out to other teens and families here in Santa Barbara. Whether it’s by donating an allowance or part of a paycheck, starting a penny drive at a school, offering to do chores in exchange for donations from parents, or hosting a bake sale — we can all do something to help. We can make a big difference.”

The need for clean water in Haiti existed before the earthquake and will only be exasperated in its wake. Once emergency relief efforts are fulfilled, the water purification systems will become part of the rebuilding process, serving as permanent infrastructures for villages without access to clean water.

“Of course our current focus is on the emergency water needs. However, someday, after the cleanup and relief efforts are over, our water systems will still be in Haiti providing safe, clean water for families and children well into the future,” H4O high school senior and co-founder Scott Schurmer said. “And that’s pretty cool.”

H4O is challenging Santa Barbara youths to raise $10,000, enough to fund a second unit. Click here to make a donation.

— Erinn Lynch represents Hands for Others.