On Sunday June 1st, Christ Church Cathedral made a real splash by launching its Water Project, affectionately known as “Brush Your Teeth, Flush the Toilet, Wash Your Hands” with a dunk tank set up in the Hillman Garden at the busy downtown Vancouver intersection of Burrard and West Georgia.
The project sees the Cathedral community on its way towards raising $10,000, approximately half the cost of equipping one home with clean, running water, and in-home wastewater disposal in the fly-in Northern Ontario town of Pikangikum.Bishop Mark MacDonald brought this PWRDF-administered project to the Cathedral’s attention. Speaking of the project, Bishop Mark shared: “Ultimately we are hoping and praying that this first initiative will be part of advocacy and education and partnership across our country, leading to real, empowering, and hope-filled transformation in our relationship with First Nations’ communities – so many of which are living in Third World conditions.
In Pikangikum, 430 of the 450 (or 95% of) homes do not have clean running water or wastewater service. The town has a population of about 2,400 people, about half of whom are youth. Several years ago, this community made international headlines when a wave of youth suicides gave it with the highest known per capita suicide rate in the world.
The Cathedral is joining with individuals and parishes across the country to contribute to an overall project goal of raising $200,000, to equip 10 homes with clean water.
In the photo we see the Cathedral’s Vicar and Archdeacon of Burrard, the Venerable Dr. Ellen Clark-King in the aftermath of being dunked. Please click the link to view a short film of the event.
And for more information about the project please visit, the information page on the Cathedral's website.