The UNICEF Tap Project

The UNICEF Tap Project

This March, When you Take Water, Give Water

If you go to a restaurant this week, as you sit down for your meal chances are you aren’t thinking about tap water. That’s probably because clean and plentiful drinking water is a daily privilege millions of us take for granted.

Unfortunately, the lack of clean and accessible drinking water is one of the most urgent health crises facing children all over the world.

Nearly 900 million people do not have access to clean water or adequate sanitation.  Every day, 22,000 children die of preventable causes, and water related illnesses is the second largest killer of children under five.

UNICEF works in more than 100 countries around the world to improve access to safe water and sanitation facilities in schools and communities and to promote safe hygiene practices. Since 1990, UNICEF has helped 1.6 billion people gain access to clean water and sanitation. UNICEF’s goal is to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation by 2015.

During World Water Week, March 20-26, 2011, restaurants are helping UNICEF save lives by doing something incredibly simple – inviting patrons to donate $1 or more for the tap water they usually enjoy for free.

Since 2007, the UNICEF Tap Project has provided $2.5 million towards water and sanitation programs for children in Belize, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Guatemala, Haiti, Iraq, Togo and Vietnam. In 2010 alone, the UNICEF Tap Project raised over $1 million to help fund water and sanitation programs for children in Vietnam, Togo, Haiti, Guatemala and Central African Republic.

As a UNICEF Tap Project Volunteer, I am working with thousands of other volunteers in Lexington, Sc and nationwide who are recruiting restaurants planning numerous fundraising and awareness-building events in their communities to support the campaign. I believe in the work of UNICEF and am doing whatever it takes to save a child’s life. You can help too!  By dining at a  participating UNICEF Tap Project restaurant or attending a UNICEF Tap Project event, you’re helping UNICEF to reduce the number of needless deaths  to zero-- just $1 raised can provide a child with safe drinking water for 40 days.

All 2011 donations to the UNICEF Tap Project will support UNICEF water programs, in Togo, Vietnam and the Central African Republic.

I hope that the citizens of Lexington, Sc and USA will support the UNICEF Tap Project. It’s so easy! By dining in a participating restaurant we can enjoy a meal with friends, learn more about UNICEF’s work to provide clean and safe drinking water to children around the world, and donate just $1 to make a difference! A single glass of water can make a difference for children around the world.

To learn more about the UNICEF Tap Project, or to locate participating restaurants and scheduled events in Lexington, please visit tapproject.org or call 1-877-PROJ-TAP.

Vidisha

Lexington , sc 

UNICEF Tap Project Volunteer