The LifeStraw Give Back Program
Clean water is vital for human life. And there are many methods to get clean water. You can use water purification tablets or a portable water filter on your water bottle, or you can boil water to purify it. But in some places in the world, it is difficult to find clean water. The LifeStraw Give Back Program aims to bring clean drinking water to as many people as possible. Whenever someone purchases a LifeStraw bottle at a retailer, a child in need in a developing country gains access to clean water for an entire year through a donation and LifeStraw’s generosity. If you want to give back while buying a new water bottle, look no further than the LifeStraw Give Back Program.
History
LifeStraw’s mission is to meet a basic human need — the need for safe drinking water. And over the years, the company has continued to bring safe drinking water to people in diverse places around the world. They have executed several successful campaigns and programs to help people in need in developing countries.
LifeStraw’s roots go back to 1994 when the company initially began working with the Carter Center to develop a water filter to remove the parasite that causes Guinea-worm disease. The introduction of this filter helped contain and slow down the spread of Guinea-worm disease. The LifeStraw water filter evolved from the Guinea worm filter.
In 2008, the company started its CarePack campaign, which helps people in Kenya get tested for HIV while providing a water filter and other health tools to anyone tested. The company also helped build the Emusanda Health Center to assure healthcare to those tested in the CarePack campaign.
In 2011, LifeStraw began the LifeStraw Carbon for Water campaign to help finance and provide sustainable access to safe drinking water to four million Kenyans. But they didn’t stop there.
In 2014, the LifeStraw Give Back Program launched. Now, whenever you purchase a LifeStraw product, a school child in need gets safe water for an entire year. At the end of 2018, over two million children had received help through this program. At the end of 2019, 3,367,145 students received one year of safe drinking water. Since the program’s inception, LifeStraw has reached 1,870 schools, delivered 12,220 filters, and had at least 15,831 follow-up visits. Follow-up visits ensure that the child still has access to clean water and are scheduled for the five years following the first donation.
Giving Back
Providing clean water is just the beginning of LifeStraw’s broader initiative to help support and strengthen communities by meeting basic human needs. Volunteers and staff members meet at sites around the world to ensure the sustainability and success of the programs. They do this through comprehensive planning, training, education, and quarterly follow-up visits for the five years after providing a filter.
They travel and visit even the most hard-to-reach schools. While at these schools and communities, volunteers and LifeStraw employees help educate the children and their community members about clean water. While in the field, they collect data about the water that allows LifeStraw to develop future filters, and they make repairs to any of the existing water filters.
The LifeStraw Give Back Program helps with more than just water—it helps make a person’s life a little bit easier and more enjoyable. When children have to worry about having enough to drink or if what they drink will make them sick, they can’t focus on being children. LifeStraw helps provide clean water so that children can learn, play, grow, and study without worrying about access to clean water.
You can give back and help support the program by buying a LifeStraw product through a retail outlet. You can also provide safe water by donating to the LifeStraw’s 501c3 Safe Water Fund or the Give Back program. The Safe Water fund helps in the event of a global disaster and in supporting ongoing programs in Kenya, India, Haiti, and other places around the globe. Visit the LifeStraw Give Back Program website to find different ways to help provide clean water and joy to a child in need.
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