How often do you ask for a glass of water with your meal when you go out to eat?

(From left to right) Laura Lieb, Casey Wagner and Meg Davis are recruiting local restaurants to ask their customers to donate $1 or more to raise money for the Tap Project, a UNICEF endeavor to provide clean drinking water to children around the world.

One UAB group is trying to change that during World Water Week, March 22-28. The Student Association for Graduate Education (SAGE) in Maternal & Child Health is encouraging local restaurants to ask their customers to donate $1 or more to raise money for the Tap Project, a UNICEF endeavor to improve water and sanitation projects around the world.

“We’re fortunate to live in a country in which clean and plentiful drinking water is a daily privilege,” Meg Davis, a first-year graduate student in Maternal and Child health and registered dietician.

“Unfortunately, the lack of clean and accessible drinking water is one of the most urgent health crises facing children all over the world. Almost all of our service projects are local, but we wanted to do something this year on an international level and include local businesses in that effort. This seemed like a great fit.”

Every dollar raised during World Water Week provides a child with clean drinking water for 40 days. Currently, UNICEF provides access to safe water and sanitation facilities while promoting safe-hygiene practices in more than 90 countries. By 2015, UNICEF’s goal is to reduce the number of people without safe water and basic sanitation by 50 percent.

Brenda Campbell, student admissions coordinator in Maternal and Child Health, is the advisor for SAGE. She says the group puts great focus on community outreach projects — including the March of Dimes, Race for the Cure and the Mercedes Run — but wanted to extend their reach this year.

“We have a good many students interested in international studies, so they wanted to try and do something on a global level,” Campbell says. “This is very student-driven. This project was something they just felt strongly about.”

What is the Tap Project?
The Tap Project began in 2007 in New York City based on a simple concept: Restaurants asked their patrons to donate $1 or more for the tap water they usually enjoy for free. All funds raised from the project supported the UNICEF effort.

More than 300 New York City restaurants participated in 2007, and that number grew to more than 2,300 across the country in 2008.

UNICEF estimates nearly 900 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water or adequate sanitation. Lack of clean water is the second-largest killer of children under 5, and 4,200 children die of water-related diseases every day.

Soliciting area restaurants
Local restaurants that have agreed to participate include: ROHO, Lucy’s, Silver Coin Indian Grill, Bettola, Petruccelli’s Italian Eatery and Café Lazio. Visit www.tapproject.org to locate these and other participating restaurants.

Campbell says the students always approach their community outreach projects eager to make them successful. This one is no different.

“This is really a tremendous leadership opportunity,” Campbell says. “For them to see a project, be interested enough in taking it and getting other people involved is not new. They do that every year. But this year, they took their time to go to a meeting in Atlanta, bring the information back to their fellow students and ask, ‘Who wants to get together and help do this?’ This is a huge commitment of their time and effort, and they’re doing it in addition to their schoolwork and job responsibilities. I think that shows true leadership.”