Patch Blog: How to Dine Out and Save the World

It’s back in Northeast L.A. for the second year in a row—the UNICEF Tap Project is flowing into your neighborhood restaurants.

Last year, we had the privilege of having , , , and The York participate in the award-winning national campaign, which seeks to halt the crisis of water availability across most of the planet. This year, too, the life-saving initiative will provide safe water to children around the world through the generous support of restaurant diners.

The UNICEF Tap Project is based on a simple concept: Restaurants ask their patrons to donate $1 or more for the tap water they usually enjoy for free. Since 2007, the project has raised almost $3 million, providing millions of children with clean water. All money raised through the Tap Project has gone toward UNICEF’s water, sanitation, and hygiene programs for children in Belize, the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Guatemala, Haiti, Iraq, Togo and Vietnam.

The first global initiative of its kind, the Tap Project is held every year in March during World Water Week, which falls between Monday, March 19 and Sunday, March 25 this year. Donating just $1 will provide a child with safe, clean water for 40 days. So imagine the power of $10—clean water for a child for an entire year, bringing us one step closer to a world in which virtually no children die from preventable causes. 

The World Water Crisis  

Nearly 900 million people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water—half of them children. And as many as 21,000 of those children die daily from preventable causes. Waterborne diseases alone—the second highest cause of preventable childhood deaths—kill 4,100 children every day. UNICEF is determined to turn that number into zero.

The U.N. agency is currently working with its partners to reduce the number of people without access to safe water and basic sanitation by 50 percent by 2015. UNICEF’s partners include Droga5 (the first to approach UNICEF with the Tap Project in 2007), MediaVest, and Giorgio Armani Parfums’ Acqua for Life campaign, which donates $1 for each Acqua di Giò for men and Acqua di Gioia for women spray cologne or gift set purchased. Additionally, the company will donate $1 each for the first 100,000 people who like their Facebook page, which you can do by clicking this link.

Through a variety of fund-raising and volunteer activities, the UNICEF Tap Project celebrates the clean water we enjoy on a daily basis by encouraging supporters ranging from celebrities and corporate personnel to restaurant patrons and government workers to give this vital resource to children in developing countries.

The concept is based on a simple, compelling slogan: “When You Take Water, Give Water.” This year, all funds from the Tap Project will specifically target Mauritania, Cameroon, Vietnam, and Togo.

What’s in it for Restaurants?

The Tap Project offers specific benefits for participating restaurants:

"The campaign will receive national exposure on sites like zagat.com, opentable.com, seamlessweb.com, yelp.com, UNICEFtapproject.org and unicefusa.org. National media and public relations efforts celebrating the UNICEF Tap Project's participating restaurants will help drive customers to your restaurant. In previous years, the UNICEF Tap Project has been featured on The Rachel Ray Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Larry King Live, Dr. Phil, CNN, as well as in The New York Times, and many more."

What We Can Do

I invite you to join me in this fantastic campaign. Just 600 restaurants need to register to reach the goal of 1,000 eateries by a deadline set for March 11. Those already registered in Eagle Rock are Tap Project veterans Dave's Chillin & Grillin and Yogurt Haven. Neighborhoods such as Eagle Rock can participate in global change despite their relatively small size.

Volunteers Needed

Sign up to be a Tap Project volunteer by clicking this link. You can recruit restaurants, host events, or promote the campaign via social media, email, or any other way you choose. 

If you have a favorite restaurant, tell them about this wonderful opportunity. It's easy to do and costs nothing. For example, I am a trained volunteer and can do all the necessary project-related work for a particular restaurant if it needs me to.

Here’s another thing you can do: Tell your friends, family and coworkers to dine out at restaurants participating in the 2012 Tap Project. 

Attention, Restaurant Owners and Managers!

Are you a restaurant owner or manager? Sign up by clicking this link to receive your free kit and get started.

If you don't have the time to volunteer, you can donate directly by clicking here or text "TAP" to UNICEF (864322) to donate $10.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me via email at jacquejacque.23@gmail.com. I have already made a reservation to save the world. So should you!