Grand Circle Foundation and the Lewis Family Foundation have funded $1,101,125 to Wine to Water to support our WASH (Water, And Sanitation, Hygiene) initiative. Launched in 2015,  the goal is for every school and village we support to have access to an adequate supply of clean water, and toilets that meet or exceed local standards.

By early 2018, we realized that although we were able to manage getting clean water to schools, we struggled to get water to the villages and needed an international partner. Lucky for us, we discovered Wine to Water, an organization committed to support life and dignity for all through the power of clean water.

The Wine To Water filter build program is an opportunity for groups and organizations to assemble filters, strengthen corporate social responsibility and become educated about and engaged in the world water crisis. Each filter removes 99.9999 percent of bacteria which cause waterborne diseases and provides an entire family with clean water for more than 10 years.

In 2018, Grand Circle sponsored a filter build of 1,000 water filters that involved associates from 30 countries. Associates put together 1000 water filters to eventually be shipped to communities around the world.

60 of those filters recently made their way to a remote village in Colombia as a result of a community service project by the OAT regional team in partnership with Wine to Water local leaders.

For every filter build, Wine to Water reserves 20% of all filters built to be used for disaster relief efforts – and the situation in Mozambique is certainly a disaster. Hit by 2 cyclones in less than a month, Mozambique was devastated by high winds and flooding. After a request from Wine to Water, 200 filters were sent to Mozambique.

The Laos and Cambodian teams are beginning online training to deliver 400 filters and provide WASH education to their local communities. Once these trainings are completed and the filters delivered, Phet Phanthavong and Chhay Mov, who are leading these deliveries, will share best practices and learning, so other regions can deliver filters around the world.

In Tanzania, Overseas Adventure Travelers have stopped at the Safe Water Ceramic Filter Factory since 2016 to learn about a different type, but equally as effective, water filter. Hundreds of ceramic water filters have been funded by Grand Circle Foundation and delivered to schools and Maasai communities. In 2019, Wine to Water purchased the factory with plans to expand and reach even more schools and villagers.

We are proud to grow our partnership with Wine to Water to bring clean water to many more people around the world.