I Run For Water (the Prairie Fire Foundation) was formally started by Mike Stein in 2024. It originated with the idea of running a marathon and raising money for a water project as well as the San Lucas Mission in Guatemala in 2023.
The initial effort raised around $5000 in 2023 by taking pledges for running the Quad Cities Marathon in Iowa/Illinois. In 2025, Stein decided that he was still in good enough health and condition to run again and so decided to repeat the marathon in 2025. This time, Stein had a more aggressive goal of raising $16,000 exclusively for water projects which would be enough money to dig three new wells in Tanzania. Stein raised around $17,800.
Nagging injuries have been taking their toll over the past few years and impede Stein’s running, but not his will or dedication to accessible, clean water. This is why we are looking for people like you! Regular people. Walkers, joggers, bikers, or really anything. The Prairie Fire Foundation is looking for others to join us on this mission of providing clean, accessible water to those in need. We are looking for ordinary people to do ordinary things in order to accomplish extraordinary results, TOGETHER!
This site is designed to help others learn about our mission and to serve as a site for others to create and promote their own fundraising project for water.
It truly is as simple as 1-2-3!
1). Pick your activity (running, walking, biking, or whatever you enjoy doing)
2). Use this website to create your project or team.
3). Ask friends, family, and co-workers if they will support your cause. Just think, if we can enroll 100 people to each raise $100 (an easy task), we can raise $10,000 together which is enough for two wells in Tanzania!
The moral of the story is this: You don’t have to be extraordinary in order to produce extraordinary results!
Please join us!