Wine to Water

One Man, Lots of Clean Water

Doc Hendley reminds us what a difference one person can make. In early 2004 he was bartending and playing music in nightclubs around Raleigh, North Carolina, when he first started learning about the 1 billion people in the world who lack access to adequate water and sanitation. “Water kills more children than HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Every 15 seconds a child dies because of unclean drinking water. When I heard things like that, I was absolutely shocked…. I decided to do something about it,” Doc recalls.

Doc used his bartending skills to organize a wine tasting event that raised funds for clean water initiatives in developing countries. Six months later, he was living in Darfur, installing water systems. Fast forward to today, and Doc’s organization, called Wine to Water, has launched projects to provide clean water and sanitation in countries including Cambodia, Haiti, India, Peru and Uganda. His aid organization still raises funds through wine tasting events (which explains the name), but there are other ways to help, too. A $50 donation will pay for a ceramic water filter that a family can use for two years. Just $100 will fund a bio-sand filter that can remove 98% of impurities, bacteria and viruses in a school or hospital water supply. With $500, Wine to Water can help build a shallow well that could provide clean water for an entire community for up to 10 years.

We heard about Doc from Daily Grommet friend Steve Curran of Pod Digital Design. Steve heard Doc speak at a Boston event where he had the entire audience mesmerized. We agreed with Steve that his story just had to be told. Most of us have never had to worry about finding clean water. If we all pitch in, Doc and his team at Wine to Water will keep erasing that worry for as many people around the world as they can.

— Ann

• Wine To Water is a 501©(3) non-profit aid organization focused on providing clean water to needy people around the world. Over 1 billion people in the world today lack access to adequate water and sanitation.

• Projects:
  • WTW has supported partners in Nyala, South Darfur with water and sanitation projects in the surrounding war torn region.
  • WTW has partnered with a local community based organization focused on constructing and distributing bio-sand filters for people throughout Uganda.
  • WTW constructed an entire water system for an orphanage located in the slums of Sudan’s capital city.
  • WTW has installed a new running water system for a leper colony located on the outskirts of New Delhi.
  • WTW has drilled over 70 wells in Cambodia, including 26 last year. In December of 2008 we purchased a drill rig and began drilling 4 wells every month. Nine months later, in September 2009, they increased their capacity to 16 wells per month. The average depth for these wells is between 90 and 100 feet.
  • WTW began digging a well for an orphanage in Trujillo in September 2009. The orphanage is being built to house 123 orphans, many of them will be coming out of the local trash dump.