Charles Okorie, chairman of the Thank You Project, and then-Gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte led the participants in last year's two-mile Water Walk from Greeley Park to the Nashua River and back. File photo

NASHUA – For the 10th year, the Thank You Project, led by Chairman Charles Okorie, will be hosting its two-mile Water Walk on Sept. 13.

The event will begin at 9 a.m. at Greeley Park, 100 Concord St. Online registration is available at https://thankyouproject.org/water-walk-registration/.

Participants walk from the park to the Nashua River on Franklin Street to fill five-gallon buckets before returning to the park. When full, a five-gallon bucket of water weighs approximately 42 pounds.

For the past decade, the Thank You Project has been working to raise money to drill wells in Nigeria and put an end to the drinking water crisis in that part of the world.

Last year’s Water Walk raised $10,000 which was used to help fund a seventh well serving the Nigerian communities of Achi, Ututu and Mbieri.

Okorie said the cost of installing one well is $35,000 plus a yearly maintenance fee of $720. Provided the funds are available, he said it takes two months to drill 700 feet down to install a purification system and pipes that connect to a spring-fed reservoir. Once the underground infrastructure is completed, water is accessible through a series of centrally-located, outdoor spigots.

According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, only 30 percent of the citizens in northern Nigeria have access to safe drinking water. It is also not uncommon for temperatures to exceed 100 degrees on a daily basis, particularly during the dry season, which lasts from November to March.