Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity event raises funds for clean water

Gabriela Maya and her 4-year-old daughter, Maria, sank into a comfy chair in the West Dundee mall.

The Elgin mom, wearing gym shoes, had the look you'd expect in a mall from a bargain hunter who found the elusive deal after roaming and roaming the aisles: Tuckered out, but satisfied.

Maya, though, wasn't shopping.

"Knowing that you're helping someone, that's what keeps me going," she said.

Maya and her daughter took a break before 9 a.m. to refuel with some carbs before logging two more miles at Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley's Walk-A-Thon Saturday. About 200 people did laps inside Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee for two hours, many of them power-walking six to seven miles.

The nonprofit group typically raises about $5,000 that go into a general fund for building homes around Elgin and Carpentersville. This year's Walk-A-Thon is going global.

"We tried to amp it up this year and get more people involved, and it seemed to work," said Olivia Vlahos, volunteer and outreach coordinator.

Vlahos and about a dozen people from the local chapter will deliver the Walk-A-Thon check to their sister Habitat for Humanity in Guatemala this April during an annual homebuilding trip in Panajachel, a lakeshore town about 90 miles from the capital. The money will provide families with water filters in a region with limited access to clean driving water.

In Guatemala, five of the top 20 leading causes of death - diarrhea, intestinal parasites, amoebas, dengue and malaria - are related to water contamination, according to Habitat for Humanity. Some of that has to do with poverty and lagging infrastructure, Vlahos says.

"We want a world where everyone has a decent place to live," Vlahos said. "It's not decent if it's not healthy, if you're not going to be able to live your life and stay hydrated."

Vlahos recruited elementary and high schoolers for one of the group's biggest fundraisers Saturday. Since the students are too young for Habitat's homebuilding - you have to be at least 16 - the Walk-A-Thon lets youngsters learn something about setting goals and giving back.

The kids donated on their own or collected pledges for each milelong lap around the mall. The water filters aren't cheap - each costs $73, but Vlahos promises the devices will make a "huge difference in people's lives."