St. Bonaventure University

Positive Ripples, a nonprofit organization with roots at St. Bonaventure University, has reached a significant milestone: 300,000 people now have daily access to safe drinking water through wells the organization has helped build or repair in Haiti.

The number is roughly equivalent to the combined populations of Cattaraugus, Allegany, Chautauqua and McKean counties — or five sold-out Bills games at the new Highmark Stadium.

Positive Ripples grew out of BonaResponds, St. Bonaventure University's student-led disaster response organization that started in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005.

Its clean water initiative began following Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake, when St. Bonaventure students, alumni and faculty established long-term partnerships with community leaders in the country's southern region. Most of the wells supported by the organization are located near the city of Les Cayes.

“Water is essential to life, yet thousands of people around the world still die each day from illnesses linked to unsafe drinking water,” said Jim Mahar, professor of finance at St. Bonaventure and founder of BonaResponds and Positive Ripples. “During Haiti’s cholera outbreak, Jean Emmanuel Vérdier began distributing water purification tablets to his neighbors. We were fortunate to join him in that effort, and together we've built something far beyond what any of us imagined.”

The organization's water program is coordinated in Haiti by Deronce Porky, who works with Vérdier and local communities to identify needs, organize well repairs and oversee projects. Their longstanding partnership has earned the trust of residents throughout the region.

In many cases, repairing an existing well costs only a fraction of drilling a new one, allowing donations to restore reliable access to clean water for entire communities.

“There is rarely a day when we don't receive new requests for help,” Mahar said. “Every repaired well makes a difference, and every donor helps make that possible.”

Positive Ripples is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization supporting access to water, education, microloans, medical assistance, disaster response, and other projects designed to create lasting, positive change.

To learn more about Positive Ripples or support its clean water initiatives, visit PositiveRipples.org. To donate, visit positiveripples.org/#give.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure is a community committed to transforming the lives of its students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a commitment to academic excellence and lifelong civic engagement. Out of 167 regional universities in the North, St. Bonaventure was ranked #8 for value and #19 overall by U.S. News and World Report (2025).