Clean water for God's thirsty children
WWB Volunteer Receives 2020 Bell Award
Our wonderful friend Pat Meredith, visiting our office with an armful of colorful water socks and a jar filled with money to fund another Water Woman.
Pat and her late husband Russ Meredith:
Partners in life and philanthropy
Pat Meredith: A Heart for Children In Need, Here In The US and Around the World

Pat Meredith was with her Sisters in Epsilon Sigma Alpha at the Middletown Fall Festival selling crocheted items for charity when she met Sr. Larraine Lauter.

"She said she needed someone to crochet covers for the water filters," Pat said. "We call them water socks."

Now, more than five years and thousands of water socks later, Pat Meredith will receive one of the 2020 Bell Awards, one of the Louisville area's most important honors. It recognizes not only her volunteer work for Water With Blessings, but also her year's of service to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, a long-time partner with the ESA Sorority.

"I had never heard of it before," Pat said. "Two of my nieces and my daughter nominated me. And Sr. Larraine wrote a beautiful letter."

In addition to volunteering, Pat and her late husband Russ became faithful donors to Water With Blessings, always taking advantage of the matching-gift program Russ' employer offered. That's dozens of Water Women sponsored over the years.
Sr. Larraine said, "I first met Pat and Russ several at the Middletown Festival, lured by the spectacle of a grandmotherly figure waving a bright marionette over a crowd of awed children. Pat explained that she and Russ had a special hobby: raising funds for children’s causes.

"When I told them about our mission for God's thirsty children, they were immediately hooked. And Russ was the originator of our logo pins."

Pat keeps working for us, making masks for our teams and Water Women in Haiti and Honduras, and crafting beaded hooks to hold the syringes onto water buckets in the Navajo Nation.

"Water With Blessings is working so hard to get filters into countries where the children were and still are dying," Pat said. "It touched our hearts that these children were taken care of. And there's still a lot we can still do."
Calling All Crafters:
Can You Help Us
By Making Some Masks?
Thank you once again for all you do!
Since July, we have been following guidelines and taking precautions while training Water Women in Haiti and Honduras. Luckily, we train in small groups, but we have had to provide them with Face Masks…and we need a lot of 'em!

Would you be willing to help us? Any style is greatly appreciated, but here is a short video on Reverse Nose Fold/Improved Face Mask – NO NOSE WIRE REQUIRED. Please let us know if you are willing to make some, and if you have any questions.

You can drop them off at the office or mail them to the following address:
Water With Blessings
Attn: Debbie Robson
11714 Main Street, Suite D
Middletown KY 40243
Do you do your grocery shopping at Kroger?

We are a part of the Kroger Community Rewards program. You can link your Kroger Plus account to the Community Rewards program. A percentage from each purchase will go towards a quarterly donation made to Water With Blessings.

Please remember that participation requires annual re-enrollment each August by all enrolled supporters.
Please re-enroll if you haven't already done so.
 
How does it work?
 
 
  • If you don’t have an account, grab your Kroger Plus card (you’ll need the barcode to register your Digital Kroger account), click “Create an Account” 
  • If you have an Digital Kroger account, click “Sign in;” click “Community Rewards” option under My Account; then click on “Enroll Now” under the Kroger Community Rewards Page
  • Search for Water With Blessings either by name or PT288, and click “Enroll”
  • Once setup is complete, you’ll see Water With Blessings on your account summary page beneath “Community Rewards”
 
Thank you for your support!
Please help us out today

Please consider forwarding this email to your friends. Perhaps they would want to join in your effort to provide clean water to God's thirsty children.

And you can make a long-term impact by clicking the link below to become a sustaining donor to Water With Blessings. By giving $12.50 each month, you can sponsor two new Water Women each year.

We'll be sure to send you information on seeing where your Water Women live and the impact your gift is making.
Meet Our Social Media and GIS Specialist Brian Hsiao
In the Fall of 2016, Brian Hsiao was a student at the University of Louisville, taking a class about politics and food and part of the grade was service learning.

"A person in the class was a Water With Blessings volunteer and told me about it, so I ended up picking this place to get the hours," Brian said. "In just a few hours, I learned about the need for clean water."

"What I like is the 'We' aspect: there's no 'I' at Water With Blessings," Brian said. "Also, there isn't the idea that we're 'saving' people. We're just trying to help people have access to clean water."

Sr. Larraine said: "One day I realized he had kept coming long past the end of his assignment – still helping out, just quietly being available.

"Brian is a learner. He never hesitates to learn something new, or something more. He's become an integral part of our team -- dedicated to our social media presence and GIS data collection. I can always count on Brian to see a challenge from a new perspective and come up with a fresh and unique solution. He surprises us every day."

Brian has traveled to Ecuador and witness the training in action and meet some of the Water Women.

"I was able to visit the home of one of the women," he said. "She showed me the filter and said that it was providing clean water for 25 people. I learned that it's more than just a number, it's real people."
Coffee Chat: A Continuing Source of Mutual Support, But A New Permanent Time
When we began meeting every Friday back in the early Covid days, who could have imagined that the virus would be still be with us as we move into October? But here we (still) are, supporting one another while sipping coffee and sharing stories.

But now we're permanently moving to a noon chat every Friday. Water With Blessings has friends and supporters all over the country, this gives more people a chance to join us.

This week we will celebrate our wonderful volunteer/donor Pat Meredith, recipient of one of the 2020 Bell Awards. She will try to bring along a couple of her Epsilon Sigma Alpha Sisters (Pat and two of her sisters are pictured above with Sr. Larraine). These great ladies are philanthropists par excellence, and a lot of fun to be with.

So if our old time was too early for you, please consider clicking below to be a part of the conversation. Then grab a mid-day beverage and fire up the connection. Once you join us, we think you will want to make it a habit.
Thank you again for supporting Water With Blessings.
We believe every child should be drinking clean water. Are you with us?
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