CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - About 5,000 gathered at Riverfront Park Saturday to walk in a mission to bring clean water to people around the world.
The Walk for Water event helps raise money and awareness for Water Missions, a group fighting a global water crisis.
As of Sunday morning, the website stated more than $261,000 had been raised with a goal of $350,000.
"Every dollar raised today goes to communities in need around the world,” Walk for Water spokesperson Stefani Drake said. “It could go to disaster response, refugee camps or rural areas that often are the last mile communities. We work in the most needed places around the world to bring water."
Walkers followed a three-mile route carrying two-gallon buckets along the way. Halfway through, walkers filled their buckets with dirty water and carried them back to Riverfront Park. The move is symbolic of the trek women and children in developing countries who walk up to two to three miles every day to bring dirty, unsafe water to their homes.
Water Mission started after 20 years ago after Hurricane Mitch slammed into Honduras. Since 2001, Water Mission has used innovative technology and engineering expertise to provide access to safe water for over four million people in 55 countries, its website states. Water Mission has 350 staff members working around the world in permanent country programs located in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Copyright 2019 WCSC. All rights reserved.