One rainy day in July, PlayPumps International learned about a very generous lemur.

Forest, to be precise, “Forest (the lemur) Alley” gave us a $100 donation.

The domesticated primate, which belongs to celebrity Kirstie Alley (remember Cheers? Look Who’s Talking?) was one of several hundred supporters who contributed $28,000 during the tireless, 24-hour Twitterthon which history now knows as Aquathon 2009.

While PlayPumps International certainly thanks Alley (and Forest) for lending her esteemed persona to a day of charitable tweets, Aquathon would never have happened were it not for an ordinary person just like you.

Steve Woods, who lives in central California and follows us on Twitter, approached PlayPumps International last June. He’d proposed the idea to Alley, whom he met on Twitter, then looked for a charitable beneficiary that addressed the water crisis in Africa – a cause near and dear to Alley. Enter PlayPumps International.

What seemed like a shot in the dark transformed into a social media phenomenon as Woods built a personal Sponsor-a-Pump page on our KnowH2O website, then gradually began recruiting followers using persistent tweets, an Aquathon blog and innovative gimmicks like the Aquathon Twibbon.

On the day of the event – July 25 – those who tweeted or donated to Aquathon were able to watch Kirstie Alley and/or Woods who sometimes appeared in picture live at Ustream.tv, while following Alley on Twitter.

In a post-Aquathon press release, Kirstie Alley said, "I couldn't be happier that my cool peeps donated over $28,000 dollars to benefit PlayPumps. Because of them, thousands of lives will be saved and the quality of their lives will skyrocket. African children are smiling at us today. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!"

On behalf of the children and communities who will benefit from the work of PlayPumps International, thank you, Kirstie and Steve (and Forest)!