Texas A&M student organization is making clean drinking water and filtration easily available to the local community.
A&M’s chapter of the international non-government organization Wine to Water is dedicated to providing clean drinking water and water filtration to domestic and international communities. Wine to Water, founded in 2007, has provided water to vulnerable communities in the United States, Dominican Republic, Nepal, Columbia and many countries in East Africa.
Peer mentor and incoming Wine to Water President Bree Gonzalez, a geographic information science and technology junior, helped distribute some of the water personally throughout Texas.
“We were able to get a shipment from Jason Momoa’s Company with water pallets,” Gonzalez said. “Those water filters are great for people who still have running water. The canned water is great for those who have permanent [infrastructure] damage.”
Environmental science sophomore Luke Drosche said Wine to Water donated canned water and provided ways for the local Bryan-College Station community to have clean water during the winter storm earlier this year. He said he decided to join the organization after seeing its influence on the local community during the storm.
“I had looked and seen what they did in the past, and I knew that I could make a big difference,”
Drosche said. “Once I started getting into it and distributing the water, I really loved the way this makes me feel.”
The organization hopes to educate A&M students about the global water crisis that is happening around the world, geographic information science and technology senior Jaron Capps said. After attending a student service trip to Costa Rica with a representative from Wine to Water, Capps said he was inspired to become more involved with the organization’s mission.
“We learned about the global water crisis and just became more educated freshman year,” Capps said. “I wasn’t so involved until I went home and did water quality and metal tests on my water and realized that I was living in America and my water isn’t good. That realization back then just made me more aware of the crisis, not only globally, but domestically and locally.”
If there is one thing this organization prides itself on, Drosche said, it is the fact that they are willing to help anyone if they ask for it.
“It’s truly special that we can have other organizations help out ours and help out other people in need as well,” Drosche said. “I am thankful to be a part of such a thing and hope that we grow even larger and be able to help more and more people as time goes on.”
Wine to Water is one of the most unique student organizations on campus and is welcoming toward anyone, said Judy Nunez, the faculty advisor of Wine to Water. She added that the students and faculty are compassionate and proud of their work. While the water is important, the relationships built and memories created are significant as well.
“I am so proud of the students in the Texas A&M Wine to Water organization because a lot of their hometowns have poor water situations,” Nunez said. “It’s their way of kind of giving back to their hometown, even if it’s not their hometown that they’re helping, but they feel as if someone is helping out their hometown, too. I am proud of their hearts, and I am proud of the students that have graduated and have never forgotten.”
For more information on Wine to Water, visit www.winetowater.org/