World Water Week: How You Can Help

Diners at local restaurants can now help provide clean water to children while enjoying a meal with friends, thanks to the UNICEF Tap Project.

During World Water Week this week, participating restaurants are doing something quite simple – inviting patrons to donate water they usually enjoy for free.

Seven restaurants in Pleasanton, Dublin, Danville and Livermore are participating this year.  These include Casa Orozco, Piatti Ristorant Cuisine, China Paradise, Sunol Valley Golf Club and Aroma Cuisine.

Last year, nearly 1,000 restaurants and more than 4,200 volunteers were involved in the national campaign, making the Tap Project the largest volunteer effort for UNICEF.

Tap Project coordinators from Amador Valley High School are helping along with other volunteers in Pleasanton.

“The Tap Project is a completely volunteer-driven campaign, so people are 100 percent committed to the cause for clean water,” said Laura Taylor, a volunteer from Amador Valley High School. “It has been extremely rewarding to work with other volunteers."

“The idea is so simple, but the impact is huge," Taylor added.

Since 2007, the Tap Project has provided $2.5 million toward water for children in Belize, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Guatemala and Vietnam.

In 2010, the project raised more than $1 million to help fund water supplies for children in five countries.

This year, all donations collected through the Tap Project will support initiatives in Togo, Vietnam, and the Central African Republic.

A list of local participating restaurants can be found here...  http://i54.tinypic.com/6p7rpd.jpg