"Pie-ing" his teacher a reward for Calgary boy who funded a well in Haiti
Riker Katchur says throwing a pie in his teacher’s face was the highlight of his six-month effort to raise $5,200 so Lifewater Canada could drill a well in Haiti.
“My teacher promised me that if I raised all the money by the end of the school year, she would let me ‘pie’ her in the face,” the 10-year-old said in August 2024. “In the end, I got to pie her with a coconut cream pie. It was hilarious!”
“It was a way that I could continue to motivate Riker with a fun reward,” Hailey explains. “The year before, students got to pie certain teachers on "Pi Day" based on whoever knew the most digits to pi. Students LOVED it. I figured it was a fun way to help get all the students motivated to help Riker.
“The pie-ing took place the last week of school during lunch hour. I brought a whipped cream pie and students were allowed to come and watch if they wanted to. I believe most did. By the time I opened my eyes, Riker had already run out of the classroom! Kids were chanting and very excited.
"I was unfortunately not as prepared as I thought and forgot to bring an apron so the pie went all over my clothes and was covered for the rest of the day but it certainly made kids laugh all day so it was worth it.”
Months before that, Riker learned about the desperate need for safe water in Haiti and other parts of the developing world while watching videos online. After deciding he wanted to raise money to drill a well, he and his father Steve began searching the internet for a worthy charity.
They discovered Lifewater, which has been ranked among Canada’s 10 most impactful charities for five years in a row by Charity Intelligence, which monitors the performance of more than 850 Canadian not-for-profit organizations.
In the video that Riker and Steve created to promote his fundraising, the boy notes his family’s ties to Haiti go back four generations – “from my great-grandparents building hospitals and schools, to my grandparents leading teams to build infrastructure, to my mom and uncles traveling to Haiti to volunteer since they were kids, to the sponsored children my family helps to take care of, a legacy of making a difference exists. I want to be part of that legacy.”
Riker certainly is part, now that Lifewater has drilled a well at an impoverished Haitian school known as Ecole Evangelique Baptist. The well is providing safe water to more than 400 students and staff, plus about 300 people living in the surrounding area.
When asked to describe the most challenging aspects of gathering so much money in a relatively short time, Riker says it was organizing the many “lemonade-stand fundraisers” plus “making presentations in front of crowds of people.”
But all that work and stress were worth it, he adds, when people were so generous and when he saw photos of the smiling, grateful students at Ecole Evangelique Baptist after clear water started flowing from their new well.
What does he want for the people there?
“That the children can learn, be happy, and have more time to play (and) that their families would be healthy, happy, and have more time to make their lives better.”
Now that the well in Haiti is done, it might be tempting for Riker to focus entirely on his favourite pastimes including soccer, hiking, camping, biking, board games, video games, and playing the ukulele and piano. But instead, he’s begun seeking donations for another well. This has meant doubling his original fundraising goal. It’s now $10,400.
“My new goal is to raise enough money to drill a new well every year,” Riker says. He noted that to donate, people can go here.
Will there be more teachers at his school willing to be “pie-ed” to help with the cause?
“I can't say I’d be interested in being pie-ed again,” Hailey says, “but I am sure he could convince another teacher!”
