For some 17 year olds, a full load of high school work, plus volunteer time at church, plus night classes for college would require all of their focus. Yet for Mariah Smiley, those things are ancillary - her true passion is in charity, in particular, the charity she founded at age 14.

"I wanted to do something that would help and really make a difference," said the high school junior. "But I didn't know what."

Then, one night, her mother returned home from an event and told her about the worldwide shortage of clean water.

"She's always been passionate," said proud mom Lt. Col. Kelli Smiley, commander of the 446th Force Support Squadron on McChord Field. "But when I told her about this, I saw something in her eyes."

From that moment on - literally, Mariah wouldn't go to bed until she had coded a website and made a call to the Living Water organization - she became fixated on saving lives through the creation of wells for clean water.

Living Water pointed her toward El Salvador, which, despite having a larger economy, is plagued by rural poverty and unfit living conditions including a lack of clean water. The price tag to drill and construct a well in El Salvador, not to mention instruct the locals about proper hygiene and usage, is $5,000.

Mariah knew she needed to start fundraising immediately. She issued the first ‘H2O challenge' at her school by addressing the students and asking them to give up any beverage but water for a week, then donate the saved money. Incredibly, she collected $1,000.

"The kids' hearts are amazing - they are the first ones at events to empty their pockets," said Lt. Col. Smiley.

Since its inception, Mariah's charity, Drops of Love, has financed and completed three wells and will begin drilling the fourth in July. While wells are more affordable in El Salvador, Mariah is setting her sights on Kenya and Haiti as well.

"My original goal was to drill until El Salvador wasn't in need ... but now it is until the world doesn't need any more water. So I guess I'm just going to keep drilling," Mariah said with a laugh.

In March of this year, Drops of Love officially became a nonprofit organization. Until then, it had been working in conjunction with Living Water International to donate fundraising proceeds.

Despite the new IRS classification, though, Mariah still cannot handle the money herself until she is 18. So for now, her mother has stepped in as treasurer, meaning she sits on the Drops the Love board of directors.

All told, Mariah spends upwards of 20 hours a week working on Drops of Love business, whether fundraising, blogging, filing paperwork, researching or even just explaining the cause.  

Next year, in order to have more time for Drops of Love work and even a site visit to Kenya, Mariah will be fully immersed in the Running Start program. From there, she plans to attend college and then move onto law school.

"I want people to know that nothing is insignificant. I'm 17 and I am heading this up; I think people don't help sometimes because they think it won't make a difference," Mariah said. "But nothing is too little. It all helps."

To volunteer, donate or just learn more about the cause, visit www.dropsoflove.org.

Photo: Lt. Col. Kelli Smiley, 446th Force Support Squadron commander at McChord Field, and her daughter, Mariah, hold a book commemorating their family’s trip to El Salvador to help drill a clean well. The funds for the well were raised through Drops of Love, a nonprofit started by 17-year-old Mariah.