Did you have a drink of water today? Take a shower? Hopefully the answer to both is affirmative. But there are millions of children whose response, tragically, is no. While snackwire is usually a showcase for restaurant openings, today's edition features a press release for a worthy event: UNICEF's Tap Project on World Water Day in March. Read on. If you're a restaurant - sign up. If you're a diner - pony up that dollar for a good cause.
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Full release after the jump.
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NEW YORK, NY (February 6, 2007) -- UNICEF announced today the Tap Project, a grassroots initiative launching on World Water Day (March 22) that invites patrons of hundreds of participating NYC restaurants to donate $1 for the clean drinking water usually served for free. The funds collected will support UNICEF water programs, which provide safe drinking water for children around the world.
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“Clean and plentiful drinking water is an every day privilege millions take for granted,” said Marcus Samuelsson, UNICEF Ambassador and chef/proprietor of Aquavit and Riingo. “Yet the lack of clean and accessible drinking water is one of the reasons why millions of children are dying each year of preventable causes. I’m excited for the opportunity to get the New York City restaurant community and our customers involved in supporting this important event.”
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UNICEF also announced the involvement of several prominent New Yorkers, including media executives, restaurant owners/chefs and celebrities, as members of the Tap Project Advisory Board. Members include David Droga and Andrew Essex of advertising agency Droga5, who initiated the Tap Project concept and designed the creative materials; David Granger, Editor in Chief of Esquire Magazine; Eric Ripert, Chef/Co-Owner of Le Bernardin; Tom Colicchio, Chef at Craft; Geoffrey Zakarian, Chef at Town & Country; Alex von Bidder, Co-Owner of The Four Seasons and Scott Conant, Chef/Owner of Alto and L’Impero. Actors Mary-Louise Parker, Peter Sarsgaard, Rosario Dawson, Paul Bettany and Jimmy Fallon; author Jonathan Safran Foer and Musician/Composer Pharrell Williams will also lend their support.
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The initial concept for the TAP Project was born from the mind of David Droga, creative chairman at the Soho-based Droga5. When asked by the editorial staff at Esquire magazine to demonstrate a creative campaign idea for its annual Genius issue, the agency came up with the unique call to action campaign that would center on World Water Day.
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To date, more than 75 restaurants, from four-star eateries to casual dining chains, have signed on to the Tap Project. Each participating restaurant will receive a project toolkit containing Customer Donation Cards – postcards which briefly describe the Tap Project, and invite customers to support UNICEF water programs by adding a donation of $1.00 per person to their bill. Each card will include a sticker, which customers will place on their check to demonstrate their participation by writing in the amount of their donation. Consumers who are not in NYC on World Water Day can also support the Tap Project by making a donation online.
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New York tap water is an engineering miracle. The system, completed in 1915, uses a daily supply of 1.3 billion gallons of water from pristine upstate reservoirs, the largest unfiltered supply in the world. Tap water is more stringently monitored and tightly regulated than bottled water. New York City tap water, for example, was tested 430,600 times during 2004 alone.
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Lack of clean water is the second largest killer of children under five. Over 21 percent of children living in developing countries do not have access to clean water. That’s more than one billion people, or one in five children. Eighty percent of all illness and infant mortality is due to waterborne disease.
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UNICEF works in more than 90 countries around the world to improve access to safe water and sanitation facilities in schools and communities, and to promote safe hygiene practices. Over the past 15 years, more than a billion people gained access to improved drinking water and sanitation facilities. UNICEF's goal is to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe water and basic sanitation by 2015. A little goes a long way – for example, with $1 UNICEF can provide 40 liters of safe drinking water, which is enough to give one child safe drinking water for 40 days, or forty children safe drinking water for one day. In an emergency when clean water is particularly scarce, $1 can enable UNICEF to provide 100 water purification tablets to provide safe drinking water for children in crisis situations.
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For more information, visit www.tapproject.org
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About UNICEF
Founded in 1946, UNICEF helps save, protect and improve the lives of children around the world through immunization, education, health care, nutrition, clean water, and sanitation. UNICEF is non-partisan and its cooperation is free of discrimination. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority.
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About World Water Day
In December of 1992, the United Nations General Assembly declared March 22nd of each year World Day for Water. Countries were invited to devote the day to concrete activities such as the promotion of public awareness, conferences, round tables, seminars and expositions related to the conservation and development of water resources. The theme for World Water Day 2007 is “Coping with Water Scarcity” and the Tap Project is proud to help.
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