Rachel Beckwith in a photo from her website
(AP) --
SEATTLE (AP) - In honor of her 9th birthday, Rachel Beckwith asked friends and family to donate money to bring clean water to an African village.
Rachel was close to meeting her goal of raising $300 when she died last week after a car accident. In her memory,strangers have now made her dream come true many times over.
By Wednesday afternoon, some 10,000 people had donated more than $400,000 to "charity: water" in Rachel's honor, many in gifts of $9 each.
On a website set up by Rachel and her mother before her June 12 birthday, she explained that, rather than receiving gifts, her goal was to help others.
The total raised has been growing exponentially since the weekend, increasing by nearly $100,000 Wednesday.
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