Actresses Jessica Biel and Isabel Lucas are joining up with rapper Lupe Fiasco to climb Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, to raise awareness and money for clean water.

The Summit on the Summit expedition, set for January 2010, is the brainchild of singer and producer Kenna, whose father suffered from waterborne diseases as a child in Ethiopia.

Biel, 27, said she was “astonished” to learn that more than a billion people across the globe have no access to clean water. Justin Timberlake may also be joining the climbers and according to Kenna more celebrity climbers will be announced in the coming months.

Funds raised will support clean water projects implemented by Procter & Gamble’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) Program, UNHCR and Play Pumps International. Procter & Gamble Co.’s PUR water treatment brand and HP are sponsoring the Summit on the Summit. Dr. Greg Allgood, Founder and Director of the CSDW Program, will also be joining the climb as one of the Summit on the Summit team’s water experts.

Web sites:

• Summit on the Summit
• Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) Program
• UNHCR - Water and Sanitation
• Playpumps International

Source: Sandy Cohen, AP / ABC News, AP / KansasCity.com, 24 Sep 2009 ; PR Newswire, 29 Sep 2009

Tags: financing, water supply