A Drink for Tomorrow raises funds to provide affordable and sustainable clean water to the many people in our world who lack this essential human right.
At ADFT, we believe that clean, safe drinking water is not a commodity but a fundamental human right. We also believe that providing access to clean water is an essential tool in the war against poverty. Lack of access to clean water has physical, social, and economic ramifications. At any given time, almost half of all people living in developing countries suffer from a health problem caused by lack of safe water and sanitation that undermines their ability to study or work.
Currently, half of the world's hospital beds are occupied by people who suffer from a water-related disease. In fact, nearly five million people die every year from preventable, water-related diseases. Diarrhea, primarily a disease of dirty water, is the second biggest killer of children under the age of five in poor countries. The disease results in nearly 5,000 preventable deaths in children each day, which translates into a staggering 1.8 million dead children per year. Annually, children miss more than 443 million school days due to water-related illnesses.
Globally, women spend over 200 million hours traveling to collect water each day. According to a new report released by the Pacific Institute, an independent, nonpartisan think-tank that studies issues at the intersection of development, environment, and security, over 76 million people will perish from water-related disease by 2020 unless urgent action is taken. The report further finds that water-related diseases could claim more lives than the global AIDS pandemic by 2020 unless major changes are made.
Although approximately 884 million people suffer from lack of access to clean water, a solution to this massive problem is not impossible. Major development organizations agree that clean water projects are one of the most effective ways of saving lives and one of the most cost-effective investments in disease prevention. Potable water projects typically reduce diarrhea-related diseases by 30 to 50 percent, with even higher reductions during water-borne epidemics, such as cholera and typhoid. Furthermore, the World Health Organization estimates that every $1 invested in clean water and sanitation yields between $3 to $34 in reduced medical costs and increased productivity.
ADFT generates critical funding and channels it to the urgent clean water crisis, but accompanies it with the promise that money allocated to the clean water crisis will have enormous returns in the health and development of the communities provided with clean water.
vital stats:
people impacted:
2,396
people involved:
28
why it's important:
This project is important to me because I believe clean water is a human right, and the fact that 884 million people are living without it is a human rights violation. I also believe that clean water is a tool in the war against poverty. Each person must have their basic needs met before progress can be made, and water is the most basic of all human needs.
A Drink for Tomorrow (ADFT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that raises awareness of the lack of access to clean water in impoverished communities around the globe as well as funds to provide clean, safe water to those who lack this basic human right. At ADFT, we believe everyone should have a drink of clean, safe water--not one filled with dirt and disease.
ADFT uses drinks and the beverage industry to raise awareness of the lack of access to clean, safe water in the developing world. Through partnerships and events with beverage businesses and the general public, ADFT creatively raises funds for clean water projects to benefit those among the 884 million people who lack clean water. Specifically, ADFT uses cause marketing partnerships and community events so the drinks Americans consume today can help to provide clean water for someone in a developing country tomorrow.
Funds raised by A Drink for Tomorrow are channeled directly into other non-profit or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are committed to implementing community based clean water projects. We support organizations that have the infrastructure and knowledge in place to carry out clean water projects, but lack physical or human resources due to inadequate funding.
ADFT has identified various partners with expertise in planning, managing and/or implementing clean water projects. We fund projects that are sustainable and community-based. Though our focus is on clean drinking water, we realize the importance of adequate hygiene and sanitation in preventing the spread of water-borne diseases, and thus the projects we fund range from those that specifically focus on clean drinking water to comprehensive projects that integrate hygiene and sanitation as well. Funds are not restricted to any geographic area, but are directed to those areas most in need of clean water projects; namely, Africa, Asia and Latin America. We currently work with the following partners to oversee or carry out the implementation of projects:
* BLOOM Africa
* Glimmer of Hope Foundation
* Global Water
* Living Water International
* Project Well
* Peer Water Exchange
the plan of action:
As a small, 100% volunteer-run non-profit organization, started by a 22 year-old with no capital in the worst recession our country has seen in a while, we quickly learned to accept that things take time and to be happy with small gains. We accomplished a lot behind the scenes in our first year (things like incorporating, filing for charitable registration, tax-exempt status, and a logo trademark, creating the website, promotional materials, slowly growing our base of supporters, holding events, creating business partnerships etc) - but it was not until the one-year anniversary of our incorporation that we had accumulated enough funds to cut a check for our very first water project: a dugwell in West Bengal, India that now brings 140 people arsenic-free water.
ADFT has grown significantly in its second year. Each fundraiser has been more successful (and less stressful) than the last. The organization has received support from businesses such as Cork Restaurant, Wachovia Bank, Beneficial Bank and Triangle Tube. Most importantly, ADFT funded one project in 2009, while in 2010, it funded projects in Haiti, Botswana, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, and Guatemala.
how you can get involved:
A crucial element to our strategy is that not only does it involve the generous support of the partnering businesses, but it also allows the general public to contribute to a solution to the global water crisis. Through the purchase of beverages and beverage-related products designated to donate a certain percentage of profits to our cause, consumers have the opportunity to make a financial contribution by simply selecting our partner's brand. In the face of a problem as overwhelmingly large as the global water crisis, it is important to provide individuals with an easy and direct way to contribute to a solution. Our promotions and campaigns provide the general public with this avenue of contribution.
If others want to get more directly involved, we rely fully on volunteers to move the organization forward. We are willing to work with each individual's time and talents to find a way for them to help. Furthermore, if you have suggestions about a promotion, potential business partner, community group fundraiser, or speaking engagement, please do not hesitate to contact us.
project updates:
05/27/2009
I'm thrilled to say that A Drink for Tomorrow has grown significantly from our first to our second year. Each fundraiser has been more successful than the last. We've received support from businesses such as Cork Restaurant, Wachovia Bank, Beneficial Bank and Triangle Tube. In our first year, we funded one project, and in our second year, we funded five--projects in Haiti, Botswana, Lesotho, and Sierra Leone, and Guatemala. Our team of volunteers is growing rapidly, as are the number and type of projects we're planning for the remainder of 2011.
We are planning to launch a large-scale campaign in conjunction with the Philadelphia beer industry, which will be called Raise a Drink for Tomorrow. In addition, Triangle Tube, which funded our well in Botswana, is interested in partnering with us again for an even bigger water project. We are honored to be a member of the Philadelphia Global Water Initiative, a group of interested organizations and individuals committed to helping to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals for water/sanitation throughout the world. We have also developed a partnership with Fairmount Waterworks to raise funds for a well in Nicaragua, which included an educational event with Philadelphia area middle and high school students. In addition, we are looking forward to an upcoming promotion with Alma de Cuba, a Cuban restaurant that is part of the Steven Starr restaurant group, to raise funds for a well in Central America. Furthermore, WineMasters, an association of 37 wine stores in four states will be donating a percentage of proceeds on select wines for a month from World Water Day through Earth Day (March 22nd-April 22 2011).
ADFT is also building a bigger presence on college campuses to get more young people involved. We have held/will hold speaking engagements and fundraisers at colleges such as Rosemont College, Chestnut Hill College, Rowan University, Widener University, University of North Carolina, University of Pennsylvania, and Franklin and Marshall College. We are partnering with University of Pennsylvania's student sustainability group to raise funds for a well, and UNC is also the site of ADFT's first official college chapter.
In February 2011, I made my first visit to the site of a completed ADFT-funded project - Little Angels Orphanage in Lesotho, Africa. I spent time with the children and saw them benefiting from the project as they washed their hands, brushed their teeth, and drank and ate using the clean, safe water. The children had previously been forced to drink from an open, contaminated source. I also spent time on the ground meeting with NGOs, identifying sites in need of clean water, and learning about the problem firsthand.
I was further invigorated by the momentum ADFT experienced during its second year, and so I transitioned from a full-time position to part-time position in October 2010, in order to have more business hours to dedicate even more of myself to cultivating the organization.
We are looking forward to continued success in our third year!
