Destinee Whitaker was in fourth grade when she learned that millions of people around the world lack clean water.
"It was a problem that confused me for a long time," said Whitaker, from the United States city of Philadelphia. "Water is a necessity."
When she got to Carver High School of Engineering and Science, Whitaker carefully researched the problem and felt that she must do something about it.
Early in her senior year, Whitaker approached fellow members of the school's National Honor Society with a proposal: They should raise money to buy water purification (净化) systems for people in need. Whitaker, the National Honor Society president, knew the systems would have to be easy to carry and able to operate without electricity. So she checked with a microbiologist（微生物学家）to make sure the system she had her eye on would fit the bill.
Once her classmates agreed to back the proposal, Whitaker took it upon herself to raise money. She organized a game where students bought tickets to guess how many pieces of candy a jar contained.
In the end, they raised $800—a large amount for a school where 70 percent of the students' families are not well-off.
Whitaker soon found that raising money was the easier part of the project. Finding an organization that could deliver the water purification systems was a bigger puzzle. She approached some organizations about their possible connections but no one could help.
Then Whitaker connected with Joseph Sackor, who runs the Liberia Medical Mission—an organization that provides medical care to Liberians who lack health services. Sackor accepted the school's money and agreed to deliver the systems to people who needed them.
Whitaker dreams of someday launching(发起)her own nonprofit organization to bring clean water to more people in need.
"Some students in Liberia can't even go to school because their parents cannot afford to buy them bottled water," Sackor said. "This money is huge."
