Each year, all of our clients play major roles in enriching communities in ways that go beyond serving students, athletes, fans and customers. They give back to local, national and global communities in ways that inspire us every day. During the holidays, Advent aims to give our own customers one more opportunity to serve communities in need. This year, as we have done in years past, we will be giving our customers unusual Christmas gifts. To honor our clients, Advent will partner with The Living Water Project to dig 10 clean water wells in Togo in West Africa. We will also provide 30,000 MANA packets to alleviate malnutrition in 200 children in West Africa. In both cases, our customers are taking part in serving communities across the globe who lack the resources many of us take for granted each day. Altogether, these clients will have aided approximately 12,200 children and adults in dire need of basic necessities.

The Togolese people are in desperate need of clean water. Each well will serve approximately 1,200 men, women and children in a community. Living Water uses 100 percent of its donations to provide clean and accessible water to people in impoverished areas of the world. The organization has no full-time employees. Prior to this year, Advent clients have provided 42 clean water wells since 2011 (40 in Togo, 1 in Guatemala and 1 in Haiti). The 10 wells this year will make a total of 52 wells serving more than 60,000 people. MANA — “Mother Administered Nutritive Aid” — is what aid workers refer to as a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). It’s a fortified peanut paste that’s been carefully formulated to provide all of a child’s basic nutritional needs. Just three servings of MANA a day can save the life of a starving child. This is the third year in a row our customers will work to cure malnutrition in starving children, bringing the total to more than 600 children set free from the shackles of hunger. This holiday, as in every holiday, we invite our clients to join us in this particular expression of designing experiences that move people.