Way to Go: Rae Specht, Bellport

A Bellport teenager's multiyear mission to provide clean drinking water in poverty-stricken Cambodian villages has earned her a local award that recognizes volunteerism and philanthropy.

Rae Specht, 15, a sophomore at The Stony Brook School, will receive the Leaders of Tomorrow Award next month from the Association of Fundraising Professionals' Long Island Chapter.

Specht, her younger sister, Emmy, 12, and friends Madeleine Joinnides, 15, and Clara Walker, 13, have raised more than $100,000 for the nonprofit organization they established in 2011, named Four Girls for Families.

The money has helped purchase 2,000-plus water filters and fund construction of three houses, two community wells and two "rain catchers" in rural villages in Cambodia, Specht said. A large portion of the funds is being used to develop farmland and provide farm animals so villagers can support themselves.

The effort began four years ago during the Spechts' family trip to Cambodia, where Rae and her sister saw poverty in remote areas and learned that dirty drinking water is a prime cause of childhood fatalities.

"My sister and I were devastated," Specht recalled, and upon returning home they recruited their friends to create the nonprofit. Funds are raised through donations and the sale of items the teenagers make, such as T-shirts, handbags, jewelry and notecards featuring original artwork.

The organization's website is fourgirlsforfamilies.org.