On July 20, 2009, three kayakers—Kevin Lilly, Danielle Katz, and Brian Coggan—will embark on a 2300 mile journey on the Mississippi River. Kevin, Danielle, and Brian are traversing the length of the Mississippi to raise awareness and money for the global water crisis. The funds will go towards preserving US waterways and also to build wells for people in developing countries. They named their nonprofit What About Blue in response to all the attention given to thinking “green.”

The Mississippi is the second longest river in the USA, only 200 miles shorter than the Missouri. The Mississippi headwaters are in Lake Itasca, one of the many, many lakes in Minnesota. In the 1930′s, the Civilian Conservation Corps moved the channel of water that starts the Mississippi to improve the tourists’ experience! The CCC added a rapids for visitors to wade across. If you want to cross the Mississippi, this is the easiest place to do it.

Lake Itasca isn’t too far from the town of Bemidji, which houses this statue of Paul Bunyan. If you want to send off the What About Blue kayakers on July 20th, make sure you stop in Bemidji to catch a glimpse of Paul! If you can’t make the send-off, consider giving them a donation.