Water Mission: providing clean water worldwide
Water Mission in Knoxville is seeking to raise funds to meet its goals of bringing clean water to those in need.
The organization has scheduled its first Water Mission Walk for Water 2023 in partnership with Central Bearden Baptist Church.
The event is scheduled to start at 10 a.m., May 6, at Lakeshore Park’s Marble Pavilion.
“A small portion of the money raised from the event will be used to cover expenses, with the remaining going directly to the Water Mission organization to be used in community and/or disaster settings to provide clean safe water and sanitation solutions,” said Bill Moore, Knoxville area team leader.
“We are in the preliminary planning stages of our 2023 activities after the Walk for Water,” he added. “We hope to have 300 walkers at the event, with a number registered already.”
People can register online for the Walk at Walkforwater.com/Knoxville. Cost is $25 for adults, $10 for youth and children, and those under 2 are free. On Walk Day, each participant receives a T-shirt.
“All you need to bring is your walking shoes,” Moore said. “We plan to have donated prizes to give out at the event.
“The goal of the event is to raise awareness for the global water crisis and to raise $30,000, which is enough to bring safe water to 600 people in need around the world — $50 brings sustainable safe water to one person for their lifetime,” he added.
Moore said the Knoxville Area Team “is the nation’s first area team that Water Mission has set up outside of Charleston, South Carolina” and has grown to include seven volunteers members.
The organization’s mission is to “educate the community on the global water crisis, where more than 2.2 billion people around the world lack access to clean, safe water,” he said.
Over the last year, in addition to the community-based work that Water Mission does, Moore said “several high visibility crises have taken place where we have been able to help.” They were:
• The war in Ukraine. “In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, leaving millions of people internally displaced and millions more struggling to access safe water,” he said.
“Water Mission immediately deployed to the region to respond to the growing humanitarian crisis,” he added. “Over the past year, we have partnered with local churches and civic groups to serve refugees seeking safety in bordering countries and in the war zone.
“We were among the first organizations to get safe water flowing to internally displaced people within Ukraine. To date, we have, 1) deployed 50 water treatment systems serving 67 locations, 2) delivered 23 million liters of safe water, 3) served 100,000-plus people, 4) delivered three million water purification packets, and 5) delivered 7,500 Bibles.
• Turkey earthquake. On Feb. 6, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey, followed by aftershocks as large as magnitude 7.5.
“Water Mission’s Disaster Assistance Response Team deployed ... within days,” Moore said. “We have shipped five emergency water treatment systems, each capable of producing 10,000 gallons of water per day.”
• Puerto Rico Hurricane. In September 2022, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, causing most of the island’s residents to be without access to electricity and clean water.
Moore said Water Mission worked with the USEPA and FEMA to address the needs of more than 200 rural communities that have water systems managed by the U.S. Department of Health.
For more information about the event and Water Mission, e-mail to moorehome54@gmail.com or the event e-mail address of walkforwaterknoxville@gmail.com or call Moore at 865-770-1863.
