New Safe Water Campaign Started in Memory of Rachel Beckwith After $1.27M Raised

who died in a freeway crash will fund water projects in Ethiopia, the nonprofit Charity: Water reported today.

Charity: Water closed Rachel Beckwith's original campaign Friday in order to start work on providing clean water to people in Ethiopia, but her family opened a new campaign in her memory -- with a goal of $5,000 that will help buy a rig for drilling for clean water.

The new campaign page, Rachel's Wish, is at http://mycharitywater.org/rachelswish.

"Rachel’s campaign is the largest in the history of Charity: Water and her story has impacted the lives of so many, as her mycharity: water fundraising page collected 31,929 donations from people living all over the world," said the nonprofit's CEO Scott Harrison.

When Rachel Beckwith, 9, , her church, .

Rachel asked people to donate to the campaign instead of asking for birthday gifts, hoping to raise $300 in time for her June birthday. She didn't quite make the $300 goal by that date, but after she died, donations poured in, when her story and campaign went viral on ther Internet, with stories in national press such as the New York Times and CBS News, and international press, including The Daily Mail.

Rachel also touched the life of a San Francisco Bay Area man, who told local reporters that he received one of her kidneys through organ donation.

Charity: Water donors wrote on the campaign page that they were inspired by her selflessness.

"Just think what good could be done if we all had Rachel's heart. We could easily wipe out hunger and thirst and even have peace in this troubled world. Dear Lord forgive us of out waste, and hold our little angle Rachel close to your heart. And please be always with her family until they see her again," wrote donor Becky Harper.

Rachel's mother Samantha Paul, thanked donors:

I am overwhelmed with gratitude and amazed by the outcome of Rachel's campaign for clean drinking water. I could never have imagined she would raise over 1 million dollars, yet it has become so much more. Throughout each day I look forward to reading your comments and hearing how Rachel's story has touched people all over the world. In this painful time, it has given me inspiration and comfort. Knowing that Rachel's decision to give up her 9th birthday will now help save thousands of people brings me to tears. I cannot thank you enough for your kind words, stories, individual fund raising efforts and most of all your outpouring of love. I am so proud to be a part of this ongoing campaign. I'm excited to be a part of its future and look forward to continuing on this path Rachel has laid before us. Thank you.

The charity plans to disburse the funds from Rachel’s original campaign for water projects in Ethiopia, Harrison said in a statement. The water projects will be built in the Tigray region and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) of the country, he said.

According to Charity: Water, Samantha Paul plans to travel to Ethiopia next July, on the anniversary of Rachel's death.