It all began with a kayak. Todd and Charity Wahrenberger were looking to upgrade Charity's old kayak, so they posted it for sale locally. Haiti H2O's Executive Director, Rhonda Smith, was looking for one to buy. "I'd say that's where we really met," said Charity. "I knew Jeff and Sarah [VanderMolen] from the Coalition for Christian Outreach—Sarah was my supervisor—so I had known of Haiti H2O and the development of it."

After selling Rhonda the kayak, Todd and Charity began to kayak with Rhonda and her husband Mike. Rhonda also added Charity to a group text that gathers women on Monday nights for bike rides through Pittsburgh. Both Todd and Charity describe themselves as active, outdoors people: "I've done the half marathon a few times, and the full marathon once," said Todd. "I had heard about Haiti H2O through other people running [the Pittsburgh Marathon]."

So when the opportunity came for the Wahrenbergers to join Haiti H2O's Bike4Haiti last September, it was a natural fit. "It's an opportunity to raise money for a good cause, and do physical activity," said Charity. Todd agreed: "It was during Covid, so it was a good way to be outdoors and be with people. It was a small group, so we got to know [the other bikers] a bit better."

The three-day ride to Cumberland is no mean feat, but the Wahrenbergers were more than up to the task. Todd had biked to D.C. several times before, but "it was so great to do as a group, take your time and see things a little bit more. It becomes more about the journey than the destination."

Last year's ride included river swimming, a detour around the Youghiogheny River Lake and Dam, and a visit to an artist's studio—built right into the entrance to an abandoned mine shaft. "The artist found all these pieces of coal mining machinery and sent them to artists around the world," explained Todd. "They find a vision for it, and send them back to display on the walls. There are huge trees coming up through the foundations, only a half-hour bike ride from Smithton."

Besides the sights and activities, it was also an opportunity for Charity and Todd to learn more about the mission of Haiti H2O.  "I'd been on medical mission trips to Guatemala and Honduras," said Todd. "So I'd gotten interested in the question, 'How do you do international missions really well?'"

Charity had begun to take on more work, which got them thinking about tithing. "We try and look at that at the beginning of every year," said Charity. "Where do we have resonance?" 

Todd said, "I've seen missions where it just becomes an eco-vacation for people. What happens after a team leaves? I think usually the groups that are doing it better are doing it more slowly, over time." Haiti H2O's local partnerships, focused on long-term relationships and support for sustainable projects such as micro-businesses, encouraged the Wahrenbergers to become Sustaining Partners at the end of 2020. "Micro-businesses help people feel independent."

"For me," said Todd, "it was about the intentionality towards the communities that Haiti H2O works with. There's growth—but how do you do that carefully? I feel like Haiti H2O is at least as careful as they can be."

This year, they are both looking forward to another bike ride with Haiti H2O, this time as Sustaining Partners. Todd said, "It's a great way to get to know people of all ages and stages, especially when we've been in lockdown for over a year!"

You can join the Wahrenbergers and the rest of the Haiti H2O crew on this year's Bike4Haiti ride! For more information, visit our Bike4Haiti page.

To become a Sustaining Partner, or to learn more about the work Haiti H2O is doing in our partner communities, click here.