World Water Day Celebration & Walk for Water

With the Willamette River serving as a backdrop, Portland Roasting Coffee along with PSU’s Capstone Class on Millennium Development Goals, will gather Rose City residents at the World Trade Center Plaza in downtown Portland for its second annual Walk for Water on Sunday, March 21, 2010. Drawing attention to the plight of millions of people whose access to safe drinking water is severely limited, Walk for Water will raise funds to benefit Water For All, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing clean water to families in sub-Saharan Africa. Walker registration fees, combined with local sponsor donations, will go toward the goal of raising $14,000 needed to build a water pump (maybe more than one!) in Tanzania, where water is a vital element in the production of coffee, one of the area’s few commodities.

Part physical activity and part awareness-raising, Walk for Water, which kicks off at 1pm, provides participants an opportunity to experience what millions of African women and children must do on a daily basis to secure water for drinking, eating and washing. To simulate the experience, Portland Roasting invites walkers to fill a container with water and bring it along the 3-mile route along the Eastbank Esplanade flanking the Willamette River. Walkers efforts will be rewarded upon their return to the World Trade Center Plaza, where they will be greeted with refreshments from local restaurants and coffee from Portland Roasting. The first 1,000 guests will receive healthy, gourmet snack packs from the socially-responsible Bon Appetit.

The World Water Day Celebration begins at 11am at the World Trade Center Plaza, with live music and education-rich exhibits illuminating the worldwide water crisis. Participants can also watch one of two screenings of the 2008 award-winning water documentary, FLOW, in the World Trade Center Auditorium. And, the fundraising finale will take place on the official World Water Day — Monday, March 22, at 6 p.m. with a concert by local musicians pitching in to help the Portland community up the ante for Water for All coffers.

The event’s non-profit partner, Water For All, has provided access to clean water to hundred of schools and communities throughout Africa since 2004. As part of Water For All’s customized approach, the Johannesburg-based organization works with local communities and in-country advisers to assess each school or community’s water needs and determine which water technology is most appropriate. Water For All uses a range of water technologies such as merry-go-round pumps, wind powered pumps, solar pumps, hand pumps and purification systems.