If you’re lucky, you don’t think about water. You don’t consider where you’ll get your next drink. You don’t trek miles to find water for cooking and bathing. You don’t worry that the water you do get will make you sick. If you’re lucky, clean water is in your shower, your kitchen sink, your drinking glass, available with the simple twist of a knob. But much of the world is not that lucky.
Established in 1993, World Water Day is a United Nations initiative designed to draw attention to the over 663 million people worldwide who do not have immediate access to clean, safe, sanitary water.
Nearly a decade earlier, two Atlas Copco employees in Sweden recognized the problem and decided to take action, and the employee-run organization Water for All was born. More than 30 years later, the program has numerous chapters across the globe. This year, Atlas Copco USA’s Water for All chapter reached a historic level of giving, surpassing $1 million in donations.
A $50,000 donation to charity: water helped Atlas Copco USA’s Water for All achieve this milestone. The money will go to a community in North Tigray, Ethiopia, where a drill-bored well will provide water for the local community. On average, each charity: water well in Ethiopia can serve 250 to 300 people.
With the $1 million in donations, Atlas Copco USA’s Water for All program has positively impacted over 40,000 people in 35 countries. The reach is significant, especially considering that 100 percent of donations come from employees. Over 5,000 Atlas Copco employees contribute annually, many opting to make a monthly recurring donation from their paycheck.
But this is just the beginning. Atlas Copco USA will continue to work toward increasing employee participation, bringing clean water to those in need both in the United States and across the world. You can do your part, too. Click here to learn how you can help support Atlas Copco’s Water for All program, and leave a comment below about how you or your company are helping to bring water to all.
