Freewaters Footwear announces water initiative
Freewaters Footwear, a US-based brand with the aim of providing clean drinking water to those who need it, has announced the launch of ProjectFreewaters.org, an initiative that provides clean water in developing countries.
Freewaters co-founders Martin Kim and Eli Marmar hope to contribute substantial advances in global water accessibility using the mission statement: “For every pair sold, Freewaters provides clean drinking water to one person for one year.”
In December 2010, months before even one pair of sandals had been sold, Ms Marmar and Mr Kim travelled to Kenya and used seed money to launch the first project – the construction of a series of fresh water wells in Tulwet, a rural community of 14,000 residents in need of clean and consistent sources of water. After less than a year, Tulwet now have clean and consistent sources of ground water closely accessible to their homes.
“Dirty water is a global crisis that kills over 3.3 million people every year, and we felt compelled to be directly involved by creating our own grassroots platform for Freewaters to make a major difference,” said Mr Kim. “ProjectFreewaters has allowed us to implement solutions on the ground where clean water is needed the most and we have already been able to see real change implemented by way of this initiative.”
ProjectFreewaters has built three functioning wells in Kenya and has already begun construction of the next two wells. ProjectFreewaters has also teamed up with UntilThen.org which creates employment and training opportunities for rehabilitated youth from the streets.
“As global citizens and as a global company, our vision is to launch projects under this initiative all over the world,” says Ms Marmar. “Scarcity of clean water is a global crisis and it affects us all.”
