Deerfield Beach, FL – March 1, 2016 – Preparations for the 10-1-10 Expedition have been ongoing for more than a year. During a reconnaissance trip in November, representatives and sponsors met and collaborated with local leaders on the expedition route to plan the upcoming event in greater detail. The unfortunate reality they encountered, however, was that in many of those locations, there is very little water to filter. Record low rainfall in the region, generally attributed to the El Niño weather pattern, has resulted in dry conditions that are expected to continue through the end of this summer. The discovery required some drastic changes in the planning to ensure the Expedition will have a significant, beneficial impact for as many people as possible.

Representatives and sponsors of Wishing Well International Foundation (WWIF) and WWIF South Africa are adapting their plans for the 10-1-10 Africa Expedition in light of the conditions in southern Africa. The strategy behind the Expedition is to benefit more than 1,500 people by deploying 150 filters across rural South Africa and Swaziland, to provide WWIF sponsors the opportunity to see firsthand the impact of their giving and to generate enough sponsorship revenue to fund future projects over the next two years.

The ultimate goal for the trip is to provide clean, safe drinking water in the region by deploying gravity-powered filtration devices which remove the bacteria, viruses and cysts from local water. These waterborne contaminants are responsible for much of the illness and premature death in developing countries. Children are especially at risk, dying by the thousands each day due to the simple lack of clean water.

For such a complex event, the WWIF Board of Directors maintained a thorough list of contingencies in case such a setback were to hinder their plans. After carefully considering their rescheduling options, they decided that late in the spring, which is late autumn in South Africa, is still the optimal time frame to carry out a trip of this kind.

TST Water President Michael Baird takes the fundraising raffle to the next level.

Originally scheduled for May of this year, the large-scale event will be postponed a year to May 2017. “Without water, there is nothing to filter,” said Guillermo Guzman, CEO and Founder of WWIF. “We are still going to the region this May, as expected, to execute a limited filter deployment. We’ll further assess the needs of the locals, the quality of their water sources and the condition of their wells. Our main filter deployment with our sponsors will take place next year when this drought is expected to be over. We’re planning each phase of this event according to what we do best: filtering water.”

Several company sponsors have already committed to the event, including Amway, H₂O International, Quality Flow, Argonide, Halosource and H₂O International South Africa. They have been joined by TST Water, the latest WQA-member company to engage the promotion effort. At the WQA Convention & Exposition this month in Nashville, TST representatives will hold a special raffle at Booth 409. Stop by to purchase tickets for your chance to win this Giant Jenga set.  All proceeds from the raffle will benefit the Expedition.

WWIF representatives will be at the show, but will not display a booth as they have done in the last several years. In a setting where the finest water purification systems in the world are on display, the Foundation’s simple message is that clean water is a luxury for hundreds of millions of people, but the WQA includes the best collection of companies in the world that can make it a reality rather than a luxury.

WWIF representatives and sponsors are focused on utilizing the additional time and opportunities that are made possible by the postponement. “Having another year to spread the word and promote this event is going to make a deeper impact in the long run,” said Ken Lister, VP of Marketing at H₂O International South Africa. “We’d like to bring all our sponsors with us to South Africa this May, but hopefully in a year’s time we’ll have another two sponsors for every one that we currently have.”

The “10-1-10” of the event’s title emphasizes the powerful impact of a small donation. For every $10 donation, 1 person is provided with clean water for 10 years. A $100 donation covers the cost of one filter, which provides clean water for 10 people for 10 years. Companies are encouraged to get involved at any level. Available sponsorships can be seen here.

Click here to learn more about the Expedition and see the full list of available sponsorships.

Click here to view and download the registration form.

Thank you for your support.