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ITT Watermark program responds to call of World Water Day
By Sylvia Kinnicutt, Research Associate, Boston College Center
March 22 was World Water Day! Observed since 1993, it sprang from the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. This year, the overall goal of the World Water Day campaign is to raise the profile of water quality at the political level so it is taken into consideration along with water quantity.
Boston College Center member ITT – a high-technology engineering and manufacturing company based in White Plains, N.Y. – is responding with a commitment to raise awareness and funds for the cause. “Collaboration is a key component of our corporate citizenship efforts and, on this day especially, our goal is to unite with others to take action for global water needs,” says Bjorn von Euler, Director of Philanthropy at ITT.
In addition to coordinating awareness, fundraising and volunteer activities with its 40,000 employees at locations around the world, ITT is providing a simple, online opportunity for everyone to take action for water. On March 22 through March 26, ITT will donate $1 to safe water solutions for every new fan of the ITT Watermark Facebook fan page. Money raised will be evenly distributed to ITT Watermark partners Mercy Corps, Water For People and China Women’s Development Foundation. According to water.org, the average lifetime cost of providing water to one person is just $25, which means that for every 25 new fans, the company can give water to someone for life.
This initiative contributes toward the mission of the company’s Watermark program to make a sustainable mark in the world by providing safe water and sanitation to children and families in need. ITT has pledged $4 million over three years to accomplish this goal through support of its leading NGO partners. Watermark not only engages the public through social networking campaigns such as this one, it also engages ITT employees with opportunities to work directly with NGO partners. Last year, for example, ITT employees were deployed to Guatemala and Honduras with Water For People to map nearby water sources, test quality and monitor existing systems to ensure proper function. And, today, on World Water Day, eleven employee volunteers are on the ground in India, assessing opportunities for successful program expansion in seven states there.
About 900 million people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water. Water is a critical issue for all corporate citizenship conscious companies today, and increasingly impacts the work of community involvement and citizenship professionals. A 2009 survey conducted by GlobeScan and SustainAbility identified clean water – along with climate change, poverty, and biodiversity – as the most urgent sustainability challenges today.
“We all agree access to safe water and sanitation is a critical global issue, but the need is often elsewhere – it’s something most of us don’t see every day,” says von Euler. “On World Water Day, and every day, ITT seeks to increase awareness of water issues and engage our employees, customers and other key stakeholders to join us as we make our mark on this important cause.”
If you are not already engaging in this issue, here is an easy first step. Join the ITT Watermark Facebook fan page and work with your colleagues on your company’s response to this urgent issue.
