It’s Your Turn to Help Change the World
As visitors to the Ozark Empire Fair have corn dogs and funnel cakes on their minds, Convoy of Hope, Drury SIFE and CBOY want to ensure they not forget about clean water. After taking clean water to Zambia, Africa over World Water Day earlier this year, the partnership will bring it to the Fair, July 27-30, to help promote the CleanWater initiative, a program that responds to the world water crisis by providing this most basic element.
A main component of the CleanWater initiative is biosand water filters, which transform contaminated water into a clean, life-sustaining resource by removing bacteria. Each biosand filter costs an average of $30 and can permanently provide a small village or large family with clean water. The filters will be featured at the Convoy of Hope exhibit, located just south of the Arena. Fairgoers will see for themselves how the filters are constructed, and how contaminated water is transformed into the most basic life-saving element.
Convoy of Hope has sent biosand filters and provided wells to more than a dozen countries and is responding to requests to place them in several more. Drury SIFE will be taking them back to Zambia, and to Mexico, Bolivia, and El Salvador in the near future.
Fairgoers can also have a bit of old-fashioned fair fun while they help raise funds for these biosand filters and their installation. Several community leaders are ready to take the plunge to help send clean water around the world. The dunk tank schedule is currently as follows:
Friday, July 27
3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Russ Marquart, Empire Bank
5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Evangel Coach Steve Jenkins
6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Charles Taylor, Drury Dean
Saturday, July 28
Noon - 1:30 p.m. Steve Irwin, Convoy of Hope US Disaster Relief
1:30 - 3:30 p.m. Pete Radecki, Drury University
3:30 - 5 p.m. Matt Wilkie, Convoy of Hope Internship/Teams program Director
5:00 - 6:00 p.m. Bethany Thompson, Convoy of Hope International
6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Jeff Nene, Convoy of Hope Media Director
7:30 - 8:30 pm Kristin Kubitschek, Convoy of Hope Public Relations Director
Sunday, July 29
2-2:30 p.m. Larry Whitely, Bass Pro Shops
2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Dave Coonrod, Greene County Commissioner
5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Gil Trout, UMB Bank
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Rick Waggoner, Convoy of Hope, Corporate Relations Director
Monday, July 30
3:00 - 4:00 p.m. Doug Pitt, ServiceWorld
4:00 - 5:30 p.m. Kenton Moody, Convoy of Hope, International Director
5:30-7:00 p.m. Todd Parnell, President, Drury University
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Ryan Nicholls, Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management
Water Facts
1. A child dies every 8-10 seconds from water-related diseases.
2. Worldwide, we spend over $100 Billion/year on bottled water - that amount could provide cleanwater to the world.
3. In America, the average person uses 170 gallons of water per day.
4. One flush of your toilet uses as much water as the average person in the developing world uses for a day’s washing, cleaning, cooking and drinking.
5. One-sixth of the world’s population does not have access to safe water (1.1 billion people).
6. 6,000 children die each day from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. That’s the equivalent to 20 jumbo jets crashing each day.
7. Women in Africa walk an average of 5 miles for water each day.
8. More than 1 Billion people are without safe drinking water worldwide. This number will increase to more than 2 Billion by 2025 if we don’t make major changes.
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For more information:
Kristin Kubitschek, Public Relations Director, office 417/823-8998, mobile 417/894-9084
Chris Mitchell, Drury SIFE Director, 873-6863
Since 1994, Convoy of Hope™, a nonprofit organization, has provided resources to organizations and churches to meet physical and spiritual needs for the purpose of making the community a better place. This is accomplished through domestic and international outreaches, supply lines, and disaster response.