In an effort to publicize the Tap Project, UNICEF has pitched a confronting campaign to New Yorkers as the city reaches record high temperatures. The international nonprofit has put up vending machines throughout the city dispensing eight flavors of dirty water: cholera, dengue, hepatitis, malaria, salmonella and yellow fever. Proceeds of every bottle of water purchased will go directly to UNICEF’s attempt to fight water related diseases around the world.
The public display of human rights by UNICEF highlights that every day over 4,000 children die from water related diseases. The program has the potential to save many lives and will also support UNICEF in meeting the United Nations Millennium Goals, which strives to reduce the number of people without access to safe water and basic sanitation by 50% by 2015. The plan is to also save children at risk from waterborn illnesses, the second highest cause of preventable childhood deaths.
The Project started in 2007, when restaurants in New York City asked their patrons to donate $1 or more for the tap water they usually enjoy for free. All funds go directly back to support UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene programs, which have helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization. What started with just 300 restaurants, the program has grown to include thousands of restaurants across the country today.
As East Coast temperatures continue to reach record highs, the idea of having consumers purchase for a cause has to potential to help solve the problem of water caused disease throughout the world.
Causecast Nonprofit 