Water=Hope

Last Stops!: Closing down Water=Hope

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:00:01 EST

by Brande Jackson

After working with over 100 volunteers and getting 5000 new supporters for clean water initiatives, Water = Hope wrapped up another fun summer with the Brad Paisley H2O tour!

Our last weekend started out in rainy Philadelphia, where we were still able to have a great night - Philly was one of our best stops on the 2010 tour! - thanks to a hard working volunteer team that braved the elements to talk to fans and build support. We could not have done it without them!

The next day the tour stopped in Bristow, VA, outside of Washington DC. We were joined by a repeat volunteer, Ashley, who brought along her sister this time around, as well as a hardworking (and very funny!) father-daughter team, and two high school friends who were accompanied by mom. Our team did great, talking to hundreds of fans about the importance of clean water; in fact, two of our volunteers signed up over 300 people all on their own, a very impressive feat. And, for the first time in a looooong time, we had a show with no rain, a change we were very grateful for!

Raleigh was the final stop of the tour this year, and we were excited to wrap things up with a big volunteer crew of 10, including about five volunteers who were joining us for the second year in a row. They worked hard to help us end the tour on a great note.

All in all, it was an amazing summer full of incredible volunteers, supportive fans, and lots of love from the Brad Paisley crew. At the end of the day, going out on tour with an artist is really about the chance to use music as a connecting force, and we were reminded time and time again this summer of the compassionate nature of the country community. We are excited to see how many lives are impacted by the work of our volunteers and supporters from this summer!

Water=Hope in Chicago!

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:00:01 EST

by Brande Jackson

The Brad Paisley H2O II tour has been going strong, and Water = Hope has had a lot of success along the way!

We’ve made stops in 14 different cities now, have talked to over 4,000 people about clean water issues and worked with close to 100 volunteers in the process. And we are well on our way with our fundraising goals, using our time on the road this summer to once again involve the country fan community in bringing clean water to communities in need.

This past weekend we made two stops: Chicago and Columbus. Chicago saw our biggest volunteer crew yet, with 17 people joining us, some of whom drove from as far away as Milwaukee to be a part of the action. The team did great - it was our biggest night ever on the Paisley tour.

Columbus had smaller team, but they were very committed and ready to work! The torrential downpour of rain right when the doors opened didn’t even slow them down - they kept right on talking to people that had taken cover in some of the covered areas of the arena!

Our volunteers reflect the diversity of support that surrounds the clean water movement: last weekend alone with had students, retirees, non-profit executives, huge Brad Paisley fans, huge water.org fans, and a long time supporter of Senator Frist (co-founder of Water = Hope) among many others. It’s always exciting to see how issues such as this unite people in one common goal.

We are also pleased to see a lot of ‘return support’ on the tour itself; many fans have told us they supported the campaign last year, and are eager to do so again, buying a new shirt, signing up friends and family for more information, taking our info cards for classrooms, and so on.

We have five more stops ahead, Florida, Philly, DC and Raleigh. You can still sign up to volunteer, and if at one of the shows, be sure to stop by the Water = Hope tent to learn about how your support can enter you into a raffle to win an autographed Gibson guitar from Brad!

NEW Brad Paisley Water=Hope Campaign PSA!

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:00:01 EST

Brad Paisley talks about the importance of clean water for the 1 out of 7 people around the world who lacks access. Please join our Water=Hope campaign today at WaterEqualsHope.org. Donate $10 by texting H2O to 25383; you will receive a confirmation, reply YES. It really is that simple!

Water=Hope is Back on the Road!

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 11:21:00 EST

by Brande Jackson

We are very proud to be back out with Brad Paisley on his H20 Tour again this year. Our first stops in Virginia Beach, Hartford and Cleveland were a hug success; we talked to lots and lots of country fans about the importance of clean water. As always, we were impressed by how engaged fans were in our project, and how eager they were to help. Our first three shows were a big success, and we are very excited about the remaining dates over the course of the summer.

Like last year, we are also using our work with Brad to provide unique volunteer opportunities for those interested in this issue. By volunteering, you are not only contributing to your community (and getting a free Brad Paisley show as a thank you!) but demonstrating first hand the idea that a ‘small drop can make a big ripple’! To learn more about volunteering and to get signed up, visit:

http://www.waterequalshope.org/volunteer

We also made a stop at Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival this year as well. We were joined by a stellar team of 7 volunteers: Slidana, Jason, Jeff, Sarah, Krystina, Ralph and Audoin. Our team worked very hard in the infamous Bonnaroo dust and sun to educate Bonnaroo fans about why clean water is so important, and what role they can play in bringing it to those who lack it. By the end of the dusty weekend, we had talked to over to 500 Bonnaroo attendees about this important issue, and raised money that will go towards a new well building project - something Bonnaroo fans can be very proud of!

In the months ahead, we’ll be making stops in Texas, Darien Lakes, Chicago, Tampa, DC, Philly and many other cities. We’re always looking for some volunteer support; visit the Water = Hope website to learn more.

NEW Website Launch! May 2011

Thu, 26 May 2011 03:04:00 EST

by Jenny Dyer, Ph.D.

We are excited to announce the launch of our new Water = Hope Campaign website today! With the new Brad Paisley H2O II: Wetter, Wilder World Tour hitting the road within days, we are thrilled to pull together all the information and tools that Paisley fans and others need to help promote, advocate, and raise money for clean water issues!

Check out our new site today at www.waterequalshope.com!

Don't forget to volunteer to spread the word about Water=Hope at a Paisley show coming to a town near you! Check out our Volunteer Page to apply.

And, finally, stay tuned for fun contests and prizes for those activist-fans who can raise the most funding for Water=Hope! See our new Donation page (with Causevox) and share with friends and family!

A small drop can have a huge ripple. Help us help others have healthier, happies lives right here in America and around the world.

See you on the tour!

Back on the Road with Brad Paisley in 2011!

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 04:17:00 EST

by BrandeJ

Water = Hope and Hope Through Healing Hands are very excited to announce that we’ll be joining Brad Paisley on his H2O tour again this summer!

Once again, we’ll be taking to the road, talking to country fans all over the US about the importance of clean water and the role they can play in bringing water to millions of people around the globe. Last year, from the support of country fans across the nation, HTHH built three wells in Liberia, Uganda, and Ethiopia and installed water purification systems in homes lacking access to water in Appalachia. This year, we hope to build more wells and service more homes for families to have clean, safe water at home and around the world.

We can’t do this with out your support – we need to v olunteers to join us again this summer! Volunteers get an amazing opportunity to engage in important water issues, inspire fellow fans, and check out a Brad Paisley concert!

Learn more and get signed up today!

Visit our photos and blog to learn about the work we did with Brad on the 2010 H2O tour.

H2O tour comes to an end

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 06:20:00 EST

The H2O tour has wrapped up its summer run, and the Water = Hope campaign is proud to have built so much support for clean water issues amongst country fans!

Our final two weeks on the tour were a bit of a whirlwind, with stops in San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Boise, Salt Lake City and Denver. Along the way, as always, we were joined by some amazing volunteers!

San Francisco and San Diego brought out lots of veteran volunteers, many of whom worked with us on tours with the ONE Campaign in years past – it was great to see familiar faces like Rochelle, Mary and Christine – all of whom were among the first ONE volunteers we ever worked with! It was a lot of fun to get to talk to so many fans while in California. From there, we moved on to Phoenix, where we were amazed to learn it can be over 100 degrees in September, go figure! We were joined by a massive crew of volunteers, including some veterans from our work on the Warped Tour and with Dave Matthews, and lots of new volunteers from local high schools and colleges as well. Albuquerque proved to be one of the best nights on the entire tour; we were joined by an AWESOME team of volunteers: college students and high school students and community members who all are passionate about clean water issues. We had one of our best nights of the entire tour in Albuquerque, a direct result of our awesome volunteer team! We also met author Sandra Postel who has written extensively about clean water issues; she was in the crowd and saw our PSA show on stage before the show, and came out to find us! You can learn more about her here.

As we headed out for out the very final weekend of the tour, we made our first stop in Boise, Idaho. After an eventful first couple of hours (including trying to track down our missing tour bus!!), we met our awesome volunteer crew for the night. The venue that we were at was on the Boise State campus, so we weren't surprised that we had many dedicated BSU do-gooders! We had Katelyn and Daniel, freshman year roommates who actually went to their dorm and signed-up their whole floor, as Tara with her friend, as well as a couple other students. We also had a mother with her three daughters who were huge Brad Paisley fans and did awesome throughout the night!! All in all it was a great first night back, thanks to all the cool people and Water = Hope supporters that Boise had to offer.

After a three AM bus visit from Easton Corbin and his crew due to their bus breaking down, we landed in Salt Lake City and met our one man volunteer crew for the night. Josh, who had just moved to SLC recently to pursue his love of skiing, worked by himself and helped get the majority of our sign-ups for the night. He is really dedicated to volunteer work, and expressed over and over how much he really liked Water = Hope's vision and goals. It was great working with him and we are so thankful to him for helping us out in Utah!

Next we were off to Denver, Colorado, a bit unhappily because it would be Water = Hope's last night working with the tour. We weren't ready for it to end! However we couldn't have ended the whole journey with a better crew, twelve dedicated and hardworking individuals who agreed that we should end it all with a bang! We had a group of four people that came individually and throughout the night bonded over the Water = Hope work, and they ended up leaving as friends after watching the show together. Then we had our basketball girls, who all played together on the local high school team. Michaela, Lindsay, Bree and a few friends worked the entire night to get those donations and raised almost two hundred dollars between them, as well as getting a ton of signatures. All you Colorado-ians were so supportive of Water = Hope and we had such a huge amount of people walking up to the table that we could barely talk to all of you! In between watching the crew play pranks on the artists as they performed and watching the donations pile up, I think everyone agreed that we had a great last night in Denver!

After four months of weekends full of talking to fans about clean water in 33 different cities, we are proud to announce that Water = Hope hit our goal of raising $20,000 to build wells, and signed up nearly 14,000 people in support of the Simon Water for the World Act. Perhaps more importantly, this means that some 14,000 conversations about clean water happened over this summer between our volunteers & campaign team and the fans in each city, and we can only hope that some of those 14,000 people are going to share that message, get inspired to volunteer themselves or even lead clean water initiatives in their own communities.

None of this would be possible without the hard work and help of the 239 volunteers that joined us this summer; they inspired us night after night with their dedication – again, a HUGE thank you to all of you that joined us! We are proud to know that they'll take what they learned and work to inspire thousands more this fall and spring on their campuses and their communities so that we can bring clean water to even more people.

Water = Hope truly believes in this idea of 'a small drop making a big ripple'; the work of our volunteers and the fans that supported the campaign this summer is all the evidence that we need.

Keep checking in for more campaign updates and ways you can get involved, and visit our Facebook photo albums to check out all of our pictures from the summer!

Water = Hope goes to Washington!

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 06:05:00 EST

We just finished another fun weekend on the road with Brad Paisley and the H20 Tour, making stops in Spokane, Portland and the Gorge!

We started our weekend off in Spokane with some great volunteer help: college students, a high school student and parents involved with a local home schooling organization all came out to lend a hand, doing a great job and signing up lots of new supporters for the Water = Hope campaign!

Our next stop was in Portland, where, after a summer of blazing heat and humidity, we were shocked to find ourselves...cold! Once again we were joined by an awesome volunteer crew: Chris just moved to Portland where he is soon to be joining the Portland Fire Department (congrats Chris!), and he was joined by Danielle, who is in nursing school in San Francisco but was visiting the Portland area. Ryan and Sarah are both students – Ryan is in med school, in fact!

And we also had Kate joining us, who literally just moved to Portland the week before to attend college, and was looking for volunteer opportunities to get involved in her community. All of our crew did a great job in Portland, roaming the lawn area and talking to fans about the campaign, gaining their support. Though it was a smaller show, Portland showed us lots of love and support and we are excited to continue our organizing efforts in the community.

Next up was the Gorge, located in the middle of Washington state, and quite possibly the most beautiful music venue in all of America. We were way excited to be working there, and it was a HUGE show, with more fans in attendance than almost any other show we'd been at! We were joined that night by Randy and Kim, a husband and wife team who had tickets to the show but wanted to help out. They came in went to work, signing up well over 100 new supporters in a short amount of time, talking to lots and lots of fans before joining their son and mom (or mom-in-law!) in their seats. They also made a very generous donation to Water = Hope, helping us reach our well building goal all that much faster, for which we are most appreciative!

We were also joined by our two recent Washington State U grads (a big Washington U rival game was going on that night, and, depending on who they talked to, they either got lots of love for their hoodies, or a lot of grief!) who were eager to get involved, and three new volunteers that Laura from Spokane had recruited for us (thanks Laura!).

All in all, it was a great three days, full of inspiring stories from fans, and lots of support and enthusiasm about our work.

We are nearing our final stretch of the H20 tour, with only two weekends remaining. Watch for us in San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix and Albuquerque this weekend! And we still need volunteers for Denver, St. Louis and Boise! Sign up today!

Check out more photos from our weekend in Washington here.

A weekend in North Carolina!

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:38:00 EST

The Water = Hope campaign spent the past weekend in North Carolina with the H2O tour, getting even more country music fans involved with our campaign to bring people around the globe clean drinking water!

We arrived in Charlotte on Friday morning and got to work, setting up for the day and preparing for our volunteer crew. We had 11 amazing volunteer join us: Joe, a volunteer from Cleveland, came out with his friend, and we had several groups of high school and college friends joining us as well.

It's been really inspiring to have so many students volunteering for us this summer, and we hope they are able to take the Water = Hope campaign back with them to their campuses this fall!

Charlotte gave us a lot of love – we talked to hundreds of fans about the importance of clean water, with many of our volunteers going out and working the parking lot and talking to the 'tailgating' crowd before they came in, to much success! We also got a nice shout out from a local radio station which helped us out quite a bit – lots of fans mentioned hearing about us before they came to the show that day. We also need to mention that we raised more money in Charlotte for our well building project than we have at any other show thus far on the tour, so a special thanks goes out to our volunteers that night and all the supportive fans!

The next day we were in Raleigh. Our normal set up routine had the added bonus of a GAC film crew being on site; shortly after our volunteers arrived, they came by with Brad to talk to me and Kim about what the Water = Hope campaign was doing on the tour, so watch for us at some point in the next week! Brad also took the time to talk to our volunteers, 10 high school girls (plus a mom and a boyfriend!) who, needless to say, were very excited to meet him!

Our volunteers in Raleigh were a lot of fun; 7 of them came from Wake Early College of Health and Sciences, a college prep high school about an hour away (one of the volunteers, Lizzy, also brought her mom and a friend!), and our other three all attend a local Raleigh high school (sorry for forgetting the name, girls!). All were a blast to work with, and did a great job talking to fans all night long!

All weekend long, we talked with fans who were not only interested in supporting Water = Hope, but who told us stories of things they and family members were doing through churches, schools and in their communities to make clean water a priority for people around the globe – it's so great to see this fan community engaged around this issue!

The tour will resume next week in Spokane as we finally make our way out west with about nine more stops. We still have room for volunteers to join us, so be sure to get signed up today!

-Brande

Water = Hope pays a visit to Florida!

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:49:00 EST

Another guest blog from Kelsey Neff, reporting from our work with Water = Hope on the Brad Paisley H2O tour!

Water = Hope made it out to three different cities this past weekend in Florida, starting in Daytona Beach.

We stepped off the bus in the morning and were pleased to see we were surrounded by all sorts of Daytona Beach fun, including a water park, carnival and the beach a short walk away. We ventured over to beach and walked around for a bit before we had to meet our awesome volunteer crew for the night. We had Michelle come out and bring her husband Derrick, her mother and her nephew Dustin. Michelle was an employee at the local Old Navy store, and took part in their volunteer program (much like our Gap girls that we met in Cleveland). Because she took the time to come out, Old Navy will make a donation to Water = Hope!!

We love seeing more retailers encourage their employees to volunteer like this, and we really appreciate the effort that Michelle and her family put in to make our time in Daytona a great experience!

Next we headed to Tampa where the whole H2O crew, as well as some of the artists, took part in a hundred foot high water slide!! After that we met our crew, which consisted of four high school friends who were last minute add-ons from the waiting list and were really great. Sophia, Stephanie, Kelsey and Sarah were working to fill community service hours for their school and said they had a lot of fun working with Water = Hope and wanted to volunteer with us again. We also had Jamie come out and volunteer, who was very passionate about the water crisis and a lot of other issues that affect third world countries. She was working with a program that requires applicants to volunteer with different organizations and then in return they set you up with volunteer opportunities abroad.

Toward the end of the night we had Andy and Joel, who are musicians that play with Steel Magnolia which is a part of the H2O tour, come by the tent and pick up some Water = Hope shirts. Keep an eye out for them to appear on stage!! Thanks for a great night Tampa!

Our last stop on our tour de Florida was West Palm Beach where we prepared ourselves for a sold out show. We met Jillian, Katelyn and Stephanie who worked hard with us to spread the word about Water = Hope to the people of West Palm. They worked hard into the night and helped us have our best donation night of the three cities! We were very impressed by that, especially considering we only had the three girls working with us. Thanks for your hard work girls!!

We're headed to North Carolina next, visit us as waterequalshope.com/volunteer to sign-up!!

Water = Hope goes to Texas!

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 09:55:00 EST

Another guest post by our blogger/campaigner Kelsey Neff!
-Brande

After a 16 hour bus ride, we started our Texan adventure in Hidalgo. At first we were a little concerned about how the night would pan out, especially when we heard that the Brad Paisley H2O tour was the first show of this magnitude to perform at this newer venue. We were pleasantly surprised when our AWESOME volunteer crew arrived, consisting of eleven Water = Hope supporters.

We learned that Konsuelo heard about Water = Hope through an ad on Facebook, and she told her brother Jesse who then told all of our other volunteers about it. By the end of the night we decided that we wanted to hire Jesse and his friend Isaac to recruit all of our volunteers, they were that awesome! We had our best night in Texas in Hidalgo, even though we had a crowd a third of the size as our other shows, which is a direct result of our great team. Thank you so much for coming out guys, we really appreciate all the work you did!

Our next stop (after a 3am bus visit from the Mexican border patrol...no joke!), was Houston where we were expecting a pretty large crew for the night. We started and ended the night with nine individuals who sweated it out with us in the hot Houston heat!! We had five high school friends, a mother with her two daughters and also Kallie, who was our big earner for the night. About half of our volunteers had never volunteered before and we were grateful that they decided to come and help us get those wells built! We were happy that at the end of the night they told us that they didn't know that volunteering could be so much fun. Glad you guys could make it out!

The last city we visited was Dallas, which turned out to be a really great night! We had a smaller volunteer crew of three high school aged girls, Chelsea, Melody, and Lauren. They heard about Water = Hope through their aunt, who had volunteered for us in Cincinnati, and really wowed us with their hard work! We really enjoyed talking to them and were glad that they could make it out.

We also had Nicolas come out, who started out as a fan that we talked to in Chicago. He really liked Water = Hope and what we are trying to do on the tour, so he came back and volunteered for us. He was also so inspired that he wants to start a Water = Hope campus program on his college campus!! In Dallas we also had a visit from Jane Lynch Crain, who works with Hope Through Healing Hands.

She came by to check out the tent and see what we were up to and we were glad that she did!! We had a great night in Dallas and loved the response that we got from country fans there. Everyone that we talked to was so gracious and responsive to the goals we have for the H20 tour. Thank you so much Dallas, you were all amazing!!

This week we're in Florida, starting in Daytona Beach then moving on to Tampa and West Palm Beach, come out and volunteer for us!!

Check out more photos here!

On the road in Cleveland and Saratoga Springs

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:55:00 EST

An update from our guest blogger and campaigner, Kelsey Neff!

Water = Hope and the whole H20 World Tour crew had the privilege of hanging out in two very different cities this past weekend. In Cleveland, OH we had one of our craziest nights yet!! We were warned the morning of the show that the weather could get a little intense with a heat warning until 8 pm and then severe rain and winds after, but that didn't stop the BIGGEST volunteer crew we have ever had from showing up. Our crew for the night consisted of 25 dedicated, hard-working, and awesome Water = Hope supporters. About half of our crew was small groups of high school aged friends who worked hard in the hot sun to get those sign ups and donations. We also had some families that came out, a father daughter duo and a mother with her daughter and son. Then we had our Gap girls who were led by Jennifer and all worked together at the local Gap. They found out about Water = Hope on their volunteer board at work and came out to show their support and in addition are going to have Gap making a matching donation to Hope Through Healing Hands! Thanks girls!

Our most impressive volunteer team of the night was Joe and Megan to raise $300 and got 250 sign ups by themselves! Joe was determined to beat the $200 record set by previous volunteers in Philly, and worked long hours in the severe temperatures to do so! We joked with him afterward asking if he wanted to come to every city with us...he was that impressive!!
We were having an awesome night in Cleveland, getting a great response from fans and raising donations like crazy! And then around 9pm the winds kicked up and we were told to break down our tent immediately. Thanks so much to those nice fans and Live Nation crew that helped us pack up our stuff and get out of there so we didn't blow away!! Some other awesome fans from the night are pictured below. Thanks for one of our best nights so far Cleveland!

Next we headed to Saratoga Springs, NY where things were a bit quieter, and a bit calmer. The venue that we were at was in a national park, so that provided for some nice scenery through the night. We met some awesome people who were stoked about Water = Hope and raised almost three dollars for every name we signed up! One fan thanked us very sincerely for the work that we were doing, and talked to us extensively about that water crisis and how it affects so many people. Thanks for your support Saratoga Springs!!

We're off to Texas next, we'll be stopping by Hidalgo on August 5th, Houston on the 6th, and Dallas on the 7th. And after that, Florida here we come! Sign up to volunteer and help us get those wells built!!

Creating clean water in Illinois!

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:58:00 EST

By Kelsey Neff, our guest campaigner and blogger this summer!

We're back on the road again with the Brad Paisley H2O World Tour, visiting Chicago and Moline, IL last weekend!

Friday morning greeted us with hot temperatures and even hotter humidity! The severe temperatures didn't sway you hardcore country fans, or our even more dedicated Water = Hope volunteer crew! We had a great crew of volunteers, starting the day with 12 dedicated do-gooders. We had three sets of best friends and high school students who had volunteered at other shows like this, and who collected an awesome amount of e-mails and donations. We also had Barry, Bob and Betty who went out on their own to talk to people about Water = Hope. Bob was an experienced campaigner who had volunteered at a U2 show a couple years back with the ONE Campaign, and impressed us by raising a lot of money for those wells, working so hard we barely saw him! We also had a best friend duo who worked together at a school and also were on their feet moving for the majority of the night. Everyone did a great job, thanks to all of you for suffering through the heat with us!

We got a great response from fans in Chicago, raising almost three dollars for every e-mail we collected! People were very interested in our goals and wanted to show their support in many ways. We had a couple people from Texas that wanted to volunteer for us when we head that way, and others that grabbed t-shirts for a bunch of their friends and family. The show was fantastic and the crowd was great. Thanks for an awesome night Chicago!

In Moline we met Colin and Erica and their friends who were committed to matching the success we had in Chicago, even though we only had a third of the volunteers! They were energetic and passionate about Water = Hope and impressed us with their results. We had a little bit less of a crowd in Moline, but we still got a really good response from Brad Paisley fans. One fan even looked through her phone and signed her whole family up on our e-mail sheet; she said she knew that they would want to support this cause. We also had a lot of fans that stopped by our table and then sent their friends back to sign up. The support we felt in both Chicago and Moline was really great; thanks for a successful first weekend back Illinois!

We'll be back on the road this weekend as well, hitting up Cleveland and Saratoga. In August, we'll be in Texas and Florida; visit the Water = Hope website to learn more and volunteer: http://www.waterequalshope.com/

Building Wells and Writing Senators: Your Support = Lives Saved

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EST

Water = Hope is proud to announce that we will be collaborating with charity:water to build three wells in three villages in three African nations: Ethiopia, Liberia, and Uganda. Each well will serve over 1,000 people. The digging of these wells will begin this fall, and we will update you with photos, blogs, and even GPS coordinates so you can follow the development and the life of the villages which will soon have an easier access to clean, safe water!

In the United States, we will be working with Living Waters for the World to install appropriate water treatment systems for families in the Appalachia region. It is estimated that several thousand families within Appalchia are without clean water, either due to lack of reliable water supplies or the fact that their water supply is contaminated. We will commit to ensuring that several of these families will soon have a safe, clean, and a reliable water source for their household needs.

These projects will be funded by Brad Paisley fans making donations on the current H20 tour while visiting the Water = Hope tent, or making a text donation. The added total of small donations from fans across the nation will add up to thousands of people getting regular access to safe, clean drinking water for the first time – proof that a small drop can indeed make a huge ripple!

And there's more! Yesterday, we mailed out over 2,322 of YOUR signatures collected at the Brad Paisley H2O World Tour concerts during May and June for our Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2009 petition. We asked Senators Carl Levin (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), George V. Voinovich (R-OH), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Jim Webb (D-VA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Evan Bayh (D-IN), and Richard G. Lugar (D-IN) to sign the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2009 as a co-sponsor to advance clean water and sanitation development activities. The Act would provide 100,000,000 people with first-time access to safe drinking water and sanitation on a sustainable basis by 2015 by improving the capacity of the United States Government to fully implement the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005. At the same time, we said thank you to Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Christopher S. Bond (R-MO) for already co-sponsoring this important bill.

We are looking forward to getting back out onto the road with Brad next week; raising more $ and collecting even more names to lend their support in our effort to bring clean water to people around the globe!

Our biggest nights yet!

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:01:00 EST

Five weeks into the tour, Water = Hope is making a big impact with Brad Paisley fans! We just finished shows in Darien Lake, NY and Philadelphia, bringing the first 'leg' of the tour to a finish with some impressive results! Our show at Darien Lake – located between Buffalo and Rochester – had us a little concerned about being able to recruit volunteers, since it is a bit of a drive from either city. We were excited to have a great crew of volunteers come out and join us: a mother, daughter & aunt team of Susan, Carol and Melissa, as well as Corey, Chelsea, Cary and Lyndsey, who are a combination of friends, sisters and fiances that all drove into from Rochester! Our team did great, helping us sign up lots of new supporters and raising lots of money for our well building projects, working all night to talk to Brad fans about the importance of clean water.

We got a lot of support from the crowd from the minute the doors opened until the very last fans left the venue; Nick and Francis, pictured below, kept talking to us long after security ushered everyone out and loaded up on Water = Hope materials to help spread the word among their friends in Buffalo.

An overnight bus trip brought us into Philly in the morning. On a personal note, I'll admit to some bias: I love doing shows in Philadelphia, I've always gotten a lot of support for the campaigns I've worked from the fans there, and everyone seems to be in a perpetually good mood! Our show Saturday night lived up to my expectations, giving us the biggest night we have had yet on the tour. Our night in Philly was a direct result of an AMAZING volunteer crew that we can't thank enough: Bill and Brianna are high school students and friends who worked so hard all night that it felt like we barely saw them, LeeAnn is a huge Brad Paisley fan and supporter of water initiatives like this, and was a huge help at our busy booth, Neil and Yang are cousins; Neil is an exchange student from China and Yang took a train up from Washington DC just to join us and help out!

Then we had 'the girls': Angelina and Danielle are old friends who frequently volunteer together, and Sara, Angelique, Samantha and Rebecca are all friends and in high school. Both groups of ladies took to the parking lots to talk to the tailgating crowd before the doors opened, and they took on our 'friendly challenge' of which volunteer could sign up the most volunteers with a passion. Early on, it looked like Angelina and Danielle would take home the Water = Hope hoodie prize (together, the two of them signed up well over 300 new supporters!) but the sister team of Sara and Angelique edged them out; they signed up 200 new supporters EACH, a record for the tour! The crowd in Philly was full of love for Water = Hope; fans are really excited about our well building project, loving the idea of country fans working together to bring water to a community that needs it. We had our biggest night yet both in new Water = Hope supporters and in the money we were able to raise for the wells, and we also signed up lots of new Philly volunteers to join our incredible team of campaigners!

The tour is taking a break for a few weeks – we'll be back at work in Chicago in the middle of July. In the meantime, there are all sorts of ways to support Water = Hope: text H2O to 25383 to give $10, and you can sign up and a part of one our amazing volunteer teams by visiting our volunteer page. You can also check out more photos from the tour (and tag yourself if you are in them!) on our Facebook page.

Back on the road in Detroit and Pittsburgh

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:03:00 EST

Water = Hope paid a visit to Detroit and Pittsburgh this past weekend as part of our ongoing work on the Brad Paisley summer H2O tour!

We were greeted by enthusiastic fans and volunteers in Detroit, which made for a great night! We talked to lots of people, including several who were interested in volunteering and becoming involved with the campaign on a local level and on their campuses, something we always like to hear.

Our volunteers consisted of two 'teams' of people: Stephanie and Nicole, sisters on their summer break (from college and high school) and our team of enthusiastic high school girls: Erica, Emmy, Betsy and Marissa.

Our crew did a great job, talking to lots of people and getting them excited about bringing clean water to people around the world. We were a bit limited in what we could do in Detroit due to the way the venue was set up, but our volunteer crew were true troopers, making the most of it and getting a record number of fans to take part in our text message fundraising campaign.

We loaded up our stuff and got on the tour bus bound for Pittsburgh the next day. Saturday morning we were greeted by the tour crew worried about thunderstorms that never actually materialized (we seemed to be blessed by the weather fairies this tour, knock on wood!) so we set up somewhat concerned, but forged ahead. Unfortunately, we didn't have any volunteers joining us that night (Pittsburgh – we need some people, sign up and join!) but we made the most of it, signing up lots of new supporters and raising money to bring a needing community a well. Fans are really excited about this idea, really responding to the notion of the Paisley & country music fan base being able to create clean water for those that need it through the combined small actions of many over the course of the tour. While walking the lawn before the show, I talked to lots and lots of people who were really excited about what Water = Hope is doing, so we are eager to get community efforts moving in Pittsburgh as well!

After loading out once Brad was finished Saturday night, we were surprised to find Josh Thompson and some of his band setting up for an impromptu midnight bluegrass session next to our bus! Josh is a big supporter of Water = Hope, not only taking part in our PSA but always 're-tweeting' our Twitter posts and helping to spread the word on Facebook, and he's a great musician and all around nice guy. It was a great way to end a wonderful weekend!

We'll be back out again this weekend before we take a break while the tour goes to Europe. We will be in Darien Center (Buffalo and Rochester regions of NY) and Philly on Friday and Saturday – as always, we'd love to have you sign up and volunteer!

Toledo, Indy and Cinci

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:07:00 EST

Water = Hope was back out on the road with Brad Paisley this past weekend, making stops in Toledo, Indianapolis and Cincinnati.

Toledo proved to be a small but mighty show; though at one of the smaller venues on the tour, fans came out in force to support Water = Hope! We signed up hundreds of new supporters while also collecting donations for our very popular Water = Hope tee-shirts (you can soon buy them online as well – watch for updates!). We also got nice mentions in the local press and were even featured on a local country radio station as well.

young fans signing the Water = Hope banner

We headed out on the tour buses Friday night bound for Indianapolis and our Saturday show. Cloudy skies hung around all day in Indy, threatening to open up, but we set up our booth and moved forward with fingers crossed. We were joined by a great volunteer crew; Lea, Justin, Matt, Kayla and Chelsea all work together and came to the show together. It was one of their first volunteer experiences, and they did great, signing up lots of people AND getting a chance to meet and talk to Josh Thompson, one of the artists performing on the tour.

indy volunteer crew

Cincinnati turned out to be the best night we've had on the tour yet. Our amazing volunteer crew helped us sign up close to 800 new supporters for Water = Hope! Aaron, Andrea and Kaitlyn are all high school students, Michael and Ashlynn are college students, Karen and her husband David are local Cincinnati residents, and Gayenell brought her entire family to volunteer!

cinci voluneer crew

The team did an incredible job, even engaging in some friendly competition (for a prized Water = Hope hoodie!) to see who could sign up the most supporters; we were very amused of their 'tracking method' which involved marking off completed sheets on their arms! Ashlynn proved to be the final winner of the night, signing up an amazing 160 new Water = Hope supporters, though Michael was a close second with 135. All of our volunteers worked incredibly hard to make our evening in Cincinnati a huge success.

Talking to the fans each night is always inspiring; the Paisley and country music community is eager to lend their voice and to invest in clean water initiatives. One of our favorite groups of people were the ladies of the "Waters of Dillsboro Retirment Home"; they all work together at the retirement community outside of Cincinnati and were super excited about the Water = Hope campaign, insisting several times that we promise to email them about volunteer opportunities they can do as a group!

the ladies of the "Waters of Dillsboro Retirment Home"

This week we'll be in Detroit and Pittsburgh and are looking forward to talking to fans there. We already have some great volunteers signed up for those shows that we can't wait to meet, but we do still have room for more volunteers to join us, visit our volunteer page to learn more: http://www.waterequalshope.com/volunteer/

You can also check out more photos on our Facebook page!

Check out the new Water = Hope PSA!

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:09:00 EST

Water = Hope goes to Kansas City and St. Louis

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 11:11:00 EST

Hope Through Healing Hands and Water = Hope were back out on the road with Brad Paisley this past weekend, making stops in Kansas City and St. Louis.

As always, we were joined by some amazing volunteers along the way. Jacqueline and Troy are a couple that live in Kansas City who are active volunteers in their community. They helped us have a great night, talking to fans about the campaign and getting many of their fellow KC residents involved! Our Kansas City set up was pretty fun; the 'water world' where our booth is situated each show was on a closed street outside of the Sprint Center in downtown KC, and we also had a table set up inside the arena as well. Kansas City also featured the debut of our PSA, which was exciting to see!

In St. Louis, we were joined by Mira, Kelley, Holly and Jeremy. They all know each other from high school, and it was the first time most of them had volunteered with a campaign like Water = Hope. They did an incredible job, working non-stop in what was by far the hottest day to hit St. Louis in a long time! Our St. Louis volunteer crew helped us have our best day yet on the tour, signing up hundreds of new supporters for Water = Hope and getting lots of fans to text to donate.

As always, we were able to talk to lots and lots of fans about clean water issues as well. We were particularly impressed by how many young people in St. Louis told us about studying these issues in college, high school, or even middle school, and who in turn were eager to join the campaign. We are excited to start working with our new base of supporters in Missouri in the months to come!

The tour continues into more of the midwest this week as well; we'll be in Toledo, Indianapolis and Cincinnati this week. Next week will see stops in Detroit and Pittsburgh; to join us, just visit http://waterequalshope.com/volunteer/.

You can check out more photos from the tour (and tag yourself if you are in one of them!) on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/hopethroughhealinghands.

Senator Frist on the Water = Hope partnership with Brad Paisley

Thu, 27 May 2010 11:13:00 EST

We caught up with Hope Through Healing Hands chairman Sen. Bill Frist on the opening night of the H20 tour with Brad Paisley.