Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim Hicks.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In 2004, my son was wide awake in the middle of the night and simply would not go back to sleep. I was walking with him in his room when I had an overwhelming sense that I was awake for a reason. I’ve never experienced another night like it. I remember saying, “God, if you’re wanting to speak, I’m listening.”
Then I heard, crystal clear, the words: “Thirst. Take water to the nations.”
My son went to sleep shortly after that. I wrote the words in my journal and told my wife the next morning. She said, “I think God spoke to you,” and I said, “I do too.”
We began researching and discovered that two and a half million children die every year simply because they don’t have clean water. Meanwhile, we flush our toilets, wash our cars, and water our lawns with what others would consider life itself. We realized there were cost-effective solutions that could literally save lives, and we thought, someone should do something about this.
At first, we said, “Maybe when we’re 50.” We thought life would be easier by then. The kids would be grown, and we’d have more time and resources. But then it hit us: what if it were our child who was sick or dying because of dirty water? Would we want someone on the other side of the world to wait until life was more convenient before helping?
That question changed everything. We realized if we waited for comfort or convenience, many lives would still be lost. We didn’t come from wealth, we didn’t have a big business or trust fund, and honestly, we had no experience starting an international charity. But we decided to do whatever we could with whatever resources we could gather.
We started sharing the vision. Friends caught it too an attorney helped us form a nonprofit, and an engineer helped design practical solutions. Before long, Thirst Relief International was born.
We were professional photographers at the time, and the wedding and portrait photography community rallied behind us. Several large photography publications featured our story, and people began supporting the mission.
Now, over twenty years later, Thirst Relief has provided more than one million people with long-term, sustainable clean water solutions at an average cost of less than eight dollars per person.
I serve as the. Founder CEO and chairman of the board on a volunteer basis. I don’t take a salary. I’m blessed with a natural health business (dōTERRA) that provides for my family, and I personally contribute to the salaries of our small but incredible staff, along with my brother. This allows us to operate as a nearly 100% pass-through model, meaning that when someone donates, almost every dollar goes directly to the field for the hard costs of providing clean water.
We also provide sanitation and hygiene training, building healthy latrines, handwashing stations, and water taps. Together, these form what’s called a WASH program, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene because real health requires all three.
It hasn’t always been easy. About four years into the journey, I seriously considered giving up. Our second-oldest son was a newborn at the time and suffered from severe acid reflux. I remember one long night, walking with him in my arms, unable to console him, and the thought came: What if this was my child crying because he didn’t have clean water? Would I want someone to give up? The answer was obvious. That night renewed my commitment.
Now, nearly two decades later, more than a million lives have been touched because we didn’t wait until we turned 50. I turned 50 this year, and I truly believe we’re just getting started. I tell my family often, “The best is yet to come.”
That’s true for Thirst Relief as well. We’ve established a strong foundation and are now poised to double our impact through incredible global partners and the generosity of those who join our mission. Our model focuses on empowering capable local workers by training and equipping them to build and maintain sustainable clean water systems at a fraction of the usual cost.
It’s been a remarkable journey, and I consider it one of the greatest privileges of my life.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Maintaining my volunteer role while also building a business and providing for my family has definitely been a challenge. Thankfully, we were able to tap into an incredible business opportunity that gained real momentum. That success has allowed me to continue serving Thirst Relief as a volunteer without needing to draw a salary.
Another major challenge has been communicating the need and helping people understand just how powerful clean water is, and how simple it can be to make a difference. It can be difficult to get people to care or believe. There’s a lot of cynicism about giving these days, especially because many large, well-known charities have made headlines for misusing funds. That leaves people feeling like they can’t trust nonprofits at all.
But if you look behind the curtain at Thirst Relief, you’d be amazed at how efficiently every dollar is used. We once had an expert in nonprofit management review our operations, and his response was, “I’ve never seen a charity run this lean and still be this effective.”
We don’t have massive funding or celebrity endorsements, and that can make it hard to raise large sums of money. Yet in a strange way, that limitation has kept us grounded. It’s forced us to stay laser-focused on making a lasting impact and being extremely intentional with how each dollar is spent.
Another challenge has been learning to say no. We’re asked every week if we can help in new areas, and unfortunately, we’re not always able to. The partnerships we have built are long-term and proven, and our field teams are capable of expanding their work by four to six times if we have the funding to support that growth. The capacity is there, the systems are there, and the people are ready. The only missing piece is the resources to match that potential.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
For thirteen years, my wife and I worked together as high-end wedding photographers. We were blessed to experience tremendous success in that field, with our work published both nationally and internationally. We loved the creativity, artistry, and the opportunity to capture some of the most meaningful moments in people’s lives.
At the same time, we were always entrepreneurial and eager to pursue new challenges. That drive took an unexpected turn when I was diagnosed with an incurable skin disease. The doctor recommended extremely powerful medications, warning that they could cause cancer, but reassured me they would “catch it early.” I told him, “I don’t accept that. God has a better plan for my life.”
That decision launched a journey of discovery. I began researching natural health and nutrition, completely overhauling my lifestyle. Through those changes, I was able to reverse the condition entirely without medication. I learned firsthand that what we put into our bodies matters deeply, and that simple, natural choices can produce incredible results.
That experience led my wife and me to dōTERRA, where we now help others pursue wellness through essential oils, supplements, and holistic lifestyle changes. We teach people how to build healthy habits, restore balance, and experience vitality the natural way.
Along the way, I’ve continued to pursue other creative passions. I recently wrote a book titled The Pinnacle of History: The Gospel According to Jesus, which explores the entire biblical narrative from Genesis to Revelation and reveals how it all points to Christ. You can learn more about it at www.thepinnacleofhistory.com.
I also helped produce a documentary that we believe has real potential for major streaming platforms, possibly even Netflix. We have meetings lined up that could open those doors, and we’re hopeful about what’s ahead.
At my core, I’m an entrepreneur who loves to build meaningful things, businesses, creative projects, and causes that make a difference. Through all of it, I remain committed to leading Thirst Relief International as a volunteer. That’s only possible because of our small but incredible team that manages much of the day-to-day work. They’re the reason I’m able to continue serving and focusing on the mission, while also pursuing the other passions God has placed on my heart.
That was more about me, if you are asking about Thirst Releif, see below.
Thirst Relief International is known for providing long-term, sustainable clean water solutions to people in need around the world. What makes us stand out is our nearly 100% pass-through model, almost every dollar donated goes directly to the field to fund water projects. We run lean, partner with trusted local teams, and focus on lasting impact through clean water, sanitation, and hygiene training. Every project is built for sustainability, accountability, and life-changing results. We use solutions that can be implemented using local labor and local materials, ensuring sustainability, efficiency and efficacy. All while creating jobs in the local communities.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
That’s a hard one because honestly, I’m pretty much an open book. I share my opinions, ideas, and beliefs pretty freely, so there aren’t a lot of secrets left. Most people already know I’m completely gluten intolerant and that I lost over fifty pounds of fat while gaining a lot of muscle by changing how I eat and live.
But what surprises people is how much that personal transformation connects to what we do at Thirst Relief. I learned how powerful it is when you give your body what it truly needs to thrive and that’s exactly what clean water does for a community. It’s simple, it’s natural, and it changes everything.
And something not everyone knows yet as I mentioned above, I’ve written a book called The Pinnacle of History: The Gospel According to Jesus. It’ll be out soon at www.thepinnacleofhistory.com. So maybe the biggest surprise is that even after all these years, I’m still finding new ways to tell stories that bring life and hope.
Pricing:
- I mean pricing it’s kind of a unique term for a nonprofit organization. But if you give $10 to Thirst relief if you can be sure that one person will receive a minimum 35 year clean water access solution. That’s really what the numbers break down to it cost us about $100 to build one bio sand filter and that can serve up to 10 people and we conservatively estimate those to last minimum of 35 years.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thirstrelief.org
- Instagram: @thirst.relief
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1DEb9KYDFD/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Twitter: ThirstRelief
