What are you doing for Earth Day tomorrow? If you’re going by only what it might read on your calendar, it’s not just Administrative Professionals Day.
250 staff from all 15 locations of Essentique Spa Salon will be taking part in a walk through Winnipeg. The group will be joining forces with 14 other Aveda salons in Manitoba to support clean drinking water in foreign countries.
The five kilometre walk is part of the 2009 Walk for Water event in support of WaterCan. The non-profit organization is dedicated to ending poverty by helping the world’s poorest people gain access to clean water, basic sanitation, and hygiene education.
“The five kilometers that we’re walking is almost the same distance that it would take a woman to get clean drinking water in Africa,” explains Essentique Spa Manager Rosemary St. Laurent – who has an intensely personal connection to the cause. Her nephew was recently adopted from Ethiopia. “When we think about how easy it is for us to turn on our taps, and how easy we have it in Canada, it really hits home.”
According to Water Treaty, the average distance that African and Asian women walk to find clean water is six kilometers: something each Essentique walker will contemplate as their work toward their fundraising goal of $1,800. Staff has been vigorously collecting donations from guests, families and friends – who have also been invited to walk.
Agenda for Wednesday, April 22:
8:30 a.m. – Walk for Water participants meet at the Legislature (450 Broadway)
9:00 a.m. – walk begins (heading east down Broadway)
9:30 – 10:00 a.m. – walkers converge at Winnipeg City Hall (510 Main Street); eventually returning to Legislature
This is the second year Essentique Spa Salon has participated in the nation-wide event. The national fundraising goal is $250,000, or $250 per walker.
