Charity: Water is a non-profit working to bring clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. And essentially, it all started with a birthday party.
A couple of years ago, founder of Charity: Water Scott Harrison was working quite successfully as a professional NYC club promoter. At age 28, he suddenly had an epiphany and decided to volunteer for nine months on mercy ships as a photo-journalist. And so, he embarked on his journey to India and Africa where his ship had 3,000 available slots to offer health aide to those in need – 7,000 showed up. As difficult as this was to deal with, he continued to travel from town to town, continuously becoming more and more affected by the situations at hand. Once he returned home to the states, he decided something had to be done – he wanted to make a d i f f e r e n c e. He had an exhibition of his photos from his voyage and then, he started planning his birthday party. Being that he used to do this professionally, gathering a crowd for his big day was a simple task, but this time, it was for a much bigger purpose. Instead of asking for gifts for himself, Scott asked that each person donate a mere $20. 700 people showed up, and everyone donated. He was able to build six wells in Uganda to bring clean and safe drinking water to the people. It was that very moment that Charity: Water, was born.
We’ve teamed up with Charity: Water because we believe that water is a basic human right. Clean and safe drinking water is something that no one should be deprived of, so we’ve decided to do something about that. Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
For every $20 we raise, Fresh & Co can build a water pump for a village in Africa. In Africa, the people say that “water is life”. Help give life to those who suffer without it. Please, donate $1 today.
For 2010, we felt that sustainability was a good word to use to consolidate our goals into one solid idea. Once we sketched that out, we set out to the field to carry out our mission. As each month passed by, we were able to accomplish tasks that had an impact on our business, and on our environment. From recycling methods and energy efficient equipment, to organic snacks and local ingredients we've done alot to come this far. We even teamed up with multiple charities and non-profits to extend an even longer hand.
So I'd say, it's been a pretty good year. We did a lot in 2010, and now it's time to do even more. It's always gratifying when you can set out to do something and then actually, well, do it. Let's keep this mentality for 2011. Make your New Years Resolution a reality. Besides, we all only have one year left to live right? At least according to the ancient Mayan calander and that unnecessarily epic 2012 movie.
