Worldwide Water Education

July 10, 2012

Donor Spotlight: WaterFilters.NET Donates Water Education Kits to Classrooms

In November 2011, WaterFilters.NET made a donation to the Project WET Foundation and nine other water charities. They then posted feature articles about each organization. It was our first introduction to the Minnesota-based water filter company, which has been around since 2002. A few months later, WaterFilters.NET told us that they wanted to do more to increase the reach of water education.

In cooperation with our Sales and Customer Service Manager, Katie Holsinger, and April Rust, the Project WET Coordinator in Minnesota, the company donated five classroom kits containing Project WET materials to five Minnesota teachers. The teachers chosen were the first of the 200 or so who responded to April's email explaining the donation.

Project WET spoke with Karl Rist, WaterFilters.NET's Content Marketing Specialist, about the donation and the company's commitment to charitable giving within the water sector.

Project WET Foundation: How did WaterFilters.NET first get interested in the Project WET Foundation and its work?

Karl Rist: From our start in 2002, WaterFilters.NET has taken an active interest in others who are as passionate about global water issues as we are. As a business, we supply customers with access to clean, safe water. As servant leaders in a larger community of water advocates, we support charities who transform lives with their service work. We have long been aware of Project WET through their informative website. As a technology-based company ourselves, we were especially impressed with the Project WET launch of DiscoverWater.org. Quality information is presented in such an engaging, interactive style, we were confident it would be a success. Hands-on games online are a great way to teach about life's most basic resource, water. We read further on the Project WET website and discovered their informative blog, ranked among the top water conservation blogs for obvious reasons. We were excited about what we learned, and couldn't wait to "dive in" and help.

PWF: Why did the idea of donating classroom kits directly to teachers appeal to the organization?

KR: First off, several leaders in our company have a background in teaching school-age children. They love to see opportunities to connect what we do back into the classroom. Throughout our company's ten-year history, we have clearly understood our mission in business to "Improve Water and the World" by providing consumers with reliable information about clean water issues, at home and in their community. Project WET's work in the charitable sector—especially providing educational resources in the schools—is a natural synergy with the mission of WaterFilters.NET. We are convinced that putting the facts of water conservation in the hands of the youngest generations will transform our planet for the better for many years to come.

PWF: I know WaterFilters.net is very active in charitable giving the water sector; why is that important to your organization?

KR: Charitable giving is our way of linking our mission as a business with a broader mission of addressing global water issues. Our future as a planet depends on it.

To learn more about donating a classroom kit as an individual or organization, click here.