One 10-year-old is raising money to bring clean water to a village in Honduras
ELK MOUND, Wis. (WEAU) - Clean water is a necessity that many people around world don’t have access to.
10-year-old Grayson Stunkel from Elk Mound is working to raise money to bring clean water to villages in Honduras.
“It costs $6,500 to get a well and we are about halfway there. So like $3,250,” Grayson said. “And we’ll be there soon I bet.”
Last year, Grayson went on his first mission trip with his family.
“Grayson and his dad, Lloyd and I, we went to Honduras in August of 2021, and we drilled a well in a village called Buenos Aires,” Julie Stunkel said.
The family went with the non-profit Honduras Well Projects that Julie, her husband, and their friends started.
“Honduras Well Projects was founded in 2019. We shipped our drill rig to Honduras in 2020 and it arrived and we started drilling in October,” Julie said. “So since October of 2020, we have, I’m going to say, nearly 55 wells in the ground.”
While on that trip Grayson made a friend who missed school because he had to walk miles for water.
“The last three days, he wasn’t there because he had to go get water for his family,” Grayson said.
Seeing firsthand the hurdles some people go through for clean water inspired Grayson to want to help even more.
“The clean water is important because it helps them get an education because if they are just late to school, they don’t go and their education helps them get a job and if they don’t have a job, they stay where they are,” Grayson said.
Grayson started his fundraising campaign around Easter.
“The first fundraiser we sold cookies and then after that we did T-shirts and now we’re going to do a lemonade stand in the summer,” Grayson said.
His family says they’re proud of his desire to help.
“They are a developing country, and I think Grayson was able to witness that right,” Julie said. “That we’re essentially all the same, but our cups are overflowing and their cup is dry. So he came home and he’s like, I got to do something about that.”
Kyle Gunderson is Grayson’s pastor at Cedarbrook Church in Menomonie. He says he’s amazed by how much of an impact the mission trip had.
“Out of the mouth of a 10-year-old boy, he said, you know, I really learned the difference between pity and compassion,” Gunderson said. “Pity is when you feel bad for somebody in a predicament, but compassion is when you’re motivated to do something about it and he did. Not only did he go the first time, but he felt compassion to say, I want to make this a reality again and again.”
Director of children’s ministry at Cedarbrook, Kris Ann Erickson, believes children don’t need to reach a certain age or certain skill level to be able to make an impact. She says Grayson is a prime example of that.
“I love that he’s able to sit in our children’s ministry and talk about his trip, what he’s doing, that he’s raising amounts of money that seem impossible for a ten-year-old to raise and he’s doing it,” Erickson said. “And the kids are inspired by him, you know, and I see other kids dreaming about what can I do to to make a difference in the world and we want that.”
With the help of family and friends, Grayson is working hard to make clean water a reality for another Honduran Village.
Julie says it’s a team effort for a good cause.
“One person doesn’t have to do it all,” Julie said. “Let’s just all do it together and get it done.”
Grayson is over halfway to his $6,500 goal to build a water well. He is hoping to raise the money in time for this next mission trip this August.
If you’d like to donate to Grayson’s fundraiser, you can do so on the Honduras Well Projects website with a note saying it’s toward Grayson’s well.
If you’d like to make an in-person donation, you can bring donations to the Cedarbrook Church in Menomonie or to The Natural Touch Landscaping in Elk Mound, the Stunkel’s family business.
Copyright 2022 WEAU. All rights reserved.
