For immediate release: March 20, 2008

Media Contact:    Stephanie Kaleva

To educate Bentonville fourth graders about water and their impact on its sustainability, Project WET and partners host an educational water festival around World Water Day.

Bentonville, Ark., 20 March, 2008 – On March 28, 2008, 360 fourth grade students from Centerton Gamble, Central Park, R.E. Baker, and Sugar Creek elementary schools in the Bentonville School District will attend Make a Splash with Project WET Sustainability 360 Festival at Old Tiger Stadium on Tiger Boulevard. Students will participate in six hands-on, interactive, fun activities learning about water quality, pollution prevention, the water cycle, watershed protection, erosion reduction, and water use and its management. The event is sponsored by Wal-Mart, Nestlé Waters North America (Nestlé Pure Life, Ozarka), Cargill, Del Monte Foods, and JohnsonDiversey.

“One of Project WET’s core beliefs is that an awareness of, and respect for, water resources can encourage a personal, lifelong commitment of responsibility and positive community participation. One of the ways we seek to provide students, parents, teachers, and communities with this knowledge and awareness is through Make a Splash with Project WET water festivals. Related to this specific Festival, we applaud the teachers, businesses, and community of Bentonville for their commitment to water education and the preservation, conservation, and management of local water resources for future generations,” said Dennis Nelson, Project WET Foundation President and CEO.

Volunteers from the Arkansas Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRCS), Wal-Mart, Nestlé Waters North America, and Cargill participated in a four-hour training in February, becoming familiar with the Project WET method of teaching. This group of volunteers then will lead students through the six water-related activities at the Festival on March 28. Del Monte Foods, Johnson Diversey, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and General Mills also will participate on event day.

Two hundred and twenty-six students will attend a morning session beginning at 8:50 am and complete six activities by noon; the remaining 112 will attend an afternoon session beginning at 12 noon and complete the activities by 2:30 pm.

According to Kim Jeffery, President and CEO, Nestlé Waters North America, “Nestlé Waters North America is committed to the communities in which we work and live, and the environment that sustains all of us. Early on, we dedicated ourselves to teaching future generations about the importance of our water resources and the need to protect and preserve them. By participating in Project WET activities at this Festival, today’s students - tomorrow’s leaders - will view water not only as a shared resource but also as a shared responsibility.” 

Notes:

World Water Day occurs each year in March.

Individual sponsors’ commitments to environmental stewardship and sustainability can be found on their respective websites. 

Wal-mart: www.walmartstores.com 

Nestlé Waters North America: www.nestle-watersna.com 

Cargill: www.cargill.com 

Del Monte Foods: www.delmonte.com 

JohnsonDiversey: www.johnsondiversey.com 

About Project WET

Since 1984, Project WET, an award-winning 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has dedicated itself to the mission of reaching children, parents, teachers and community members of the world with water education.  Project WET achieves its mission of worldwide water education by:

• publishing water resource materials in several languages.
  
• providing training workshops on diverse water topics (i.e., watersheds, water quality, water conservation).
  
• organizing community water events, such as Make a Splash with Project WET water festivals and the Global Water Education Village™.
  
• building a worldwide network of educators, water resource professionals and scientists.

On the web at www.projectwet.org.