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Community Corner

'When You Take Water, Give Water' at These Eagle Rock Eateries

Three Eagle Rock eateries make it easy to dine, drink water, and donate a dollar to the Tap Project, which helps you help UNICEF help kids.

Given the recent spate of spring showers, water has probably been on your mind a lot lately. Interested in expanding beyond your preoccupation with local precipitation and giving for the global good? The Tap Project, which helps the United Nations Children’s Fund bring clean water and sanitation to children and their families around the world, might just be your cup of ... shall we say, water.

The Tap Project began in 2007, when New York City restaurants asked patrons to donate $1 for the tap water they usually enjoy for free. Each $1 donation provides water for one child for 40 days. This year, the project, which runs through Saturday, March 26, specifically targets Togo, the Central African Republic, and Vietnam.

Now here’s the good news for Eagle Rockers: There are a few Eagle Rock establishments that make it possible for you eat locally while helping globally.

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Alicia Ramirez, owner of , regularly donates food for fundraisers at schools, churches and libraries as well as Relay for Life, but this is the first year she’s been involved with the Tap Project. It’s a “genius idea,” she says, given that “we give a lot of water to our clients.” After all, aficionados of Señor Fish’s addictive seafood tacos will concur that liquid refreshment, whether a glass of water, a beer, or the relatively recently added sangria, margaritas, and pina coladas, is perfect for tempering the heat of the spicy salsa bar, which has been a fixture of the iconic taqueria since its humble beginnings in 1988 as “a little hole in the wall on Figueroa in Highland Park.”

The Tap Project’s slogan, “When you take water, give water,” is particularly alluring to Ramirez. “What a wonderful idea,” she says.

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Ghazal Bazrafshan, manager of , is equally enthusiastic about the Tap Project. “I’ve always wanted to volunteer for UNICEF and this opportunity just landed in my lap!” Bazrafshan says, even though, “we got the materials kind of late. [The fundraiser] is supposed to end on Saturday but I’m going to extend it until next Thursday.” 

If that’s not possible, Dave’s Chillin-n-Grillin owner/operator Dave Evans has pledged to put in $10 a day for every day of the fundraiser. Evans, whose sub-and-smoothie stop won 2006/2007 “Best of Citysearch” in the “Sandwich Shop” category for offerings like the hot sausage sub, grilled tomato and cheese with hummus, and fresh fruit smoothies, says he makes it a point to give to the local as well as global community. “We donate to every school in Eagle Rock and every charity event that Occidental [College] does. You have to give, to get.”

Giving doesn’t have to end with lunch or dinner. Donate with dessert (or a decadent brunch) at , an Eagle Rock-only establishment that offers a rotating frozen yogurt menu plus griddled crepes. (Strawberry with Nutella, anyone?) As well as standard faves like Chocolate, Vanilla, and Tart, Yogurt Haven also offers hard-to-find fro-yo flavors like Pineapple, Pistachio, and the distinctively purple River Rock Taro, plus unique toppings like mochi (sweet, Japanese rice cake with a Gummi-bear-like texture.)

Manager Nick Bautista, who says Yogurt Haven wants to be "open to the community", gave the Tap Project materials pride of place near the front door and also added a cashbox to make it even easier to give to the fundraiser. Bautista contributes to the clean-water-for-kids coffers himself.  “Any tips I get, I put it in the [box.] They need it more than I do.”

In addition to the dine in, dollar-a-glass donations, contributions to UNICEF’s Tap Project can be made online. A $5 donation enters you into the Celebrity Tap Sweepstakes. Selena Gomez, Robin Williams, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Adrian Grenier, and Dwight Howard have all donated tap water from their kitchen faucets, which has been bottled into signature, one-of-a-kind glass bottles  etched with the celebrity’s likeness and combined in the Celebrity Tap Pack. The package will be won by one lucky donor. Give to get, indeed.

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