Walk for Water Surges to New Record in Beaufort County
story by JEANNE REYNOLDS photos by PAUL NURNBERG
More than 700 Beaufort County residents joined forces to raise nearly $90,000 in this year’s Walk for Water events in Port Royal and Bluffton to fight the global water crisis.
Walkers and volunteers met Sept. 13 at Live Oaks Park in Port Royal and Sept. 20 at Wright Family Park in Bluffton for a three-mile walk to symbolize the burden millions of women and children in developing countries carry daily to collect water that’s often contaminated or in dangerous areas. The walks promote awareness of the desperate need for access to safe water and raises money for Water Mission International, a nonprofit Christian engineering organization based in Charleston that builds sustainable, safe water solutions in developing countries and disaster areas.
Port Royal resident Pippa Malone spent several hours at the Port Royal walk driving a “water uber” golf cart to help people participate who couldn’t otherwise manage the three-mile trek.
“This is great for our community,” Malone said. “It’s a wonderful philanthropic endeavor that brings awareness to something we take for granted. We’re surrounded by water here. And I love that so many kids are involved. Start ’em out young!”
“It’s a good cause,” agreed high-school student Ava Keller, who’s participated in the Walk for Water up and down the East coast with her active-duty military family. “We do it every year no matter where we live: here, Charleston, Virginia Beach.”
This was the ninth time Beaufort resident Dick McSween has participated in the walk. “It’s a good way to spread the good word at the same time as the need for water,” he said.
The $90,000 raised this year will help provide clean water and sanitation solutions to an estimated 1,800 people around the world, according to Nan Krueger, Beaufort County Walk for Water committee leader.
“These are things most of us take for granted but make a transformational difference to those who don’t have them,” Krueger said. “The money the walk raises lifts up people for generations in communities around the world.”
Visit the Walk for Water website at walkforwater.com/beaufort to learn more about the Beaufort County Walk for Water. Follow Beaufort County Walk for Water on Facebook and Instagram @BeaufortWalkforWater, and on Twitter #bftwalkforwater.
ABOUT WATER MISSION
Since 2001, Water Mission has used innovative technology and engineering expertise to provide access to safe water for more than eight million people in 60 countries. Water Mission has 400 staff members working around the world in permanent country programs located in Africa, Asia, North, South and Central America, and the Caribbean. Charity Navigator has awarded Water Mission its top four-star rating 18 years in a row, a distinction shared by less than 1% of the charities rated by the organization. Learn more at watermission.org.
Thank you, Beaufort County Walk for Water Sponsors!
PLATINUM SPONSORS
First Presbyterian Church of Beaufort
Sea Island Presbyterian Church
GOLD SPONSORS
Carteret Street United Methodist Church
Modern Jewelers
The Pickard Trust
SILVER SPONSORS
Alan Patterson Builders
Eugene A. Rugala and Associates
JH Hiers Construction
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
Church of the Palms
Lowcountry Presbyterian Church
Beaufort Lifestyle Magazine
Capitol Coffee
Paul Nurnberg Photography
Town of Port Royal
Parish Church of Habersham
Saint Helena’s Anglican Church
BRONZE SPONSORS
Presbyterian Women
Superior Coffee/Lowcountry Cider
Knights of Columbus
Tidal Creek Fellowship
Sea Eagle Market
Bluffton United Methodist Church
Saint Gregory the Great Catholic Church
St Luke’s Methodist Church
Campbell Chapel AME Church
St. John’s Lutheran Church
SK Signs
Lowcountry Weekly/The Island News
Amy Bowman State Farm Insurance
BOSS Orthopaedics
WALK PARTNER SPONSORS
Acoustic Bridge
Grounded Running
Beaufort Pediatrics
Durham Dental
Lowcountry Legacy Law Firm
