Some second graders in north-central Iowa are raising a stink while raising money for charity. Dawn Scholtens, a teacher at Sunset Heights Elementary School in Webster City, says her class has refused to bathe all this week as part of an effort to collect donations to bring fresh water to an African village.

“The kids have had a lot of fun,” Scholtens says. “They think it’s okay to not be taking a bath or a shower and we’ve learned a lot about Kenya and the importance of clean water.”

The shower strike began Monday and will end later this afternoon. The Iowa school is among dozens nationwide working with the Texas-based group, Well Aware World. The overall goal is to raise $100,000 to dig three wells in a Kenyan village.

“The village actually has about 9,000 people, which we were surprised to learn,” Scholtens says. “That means it’s bigger than Webster City and they don’t have a water source.” The class goal was to raise one-thousand dollars this week and by Thursday, they’d already surpassed that goal with $1,600.

If you’d like to contribute, visit the website: “www.showerstrike.com”.

By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City