They walked, not for water for themselves, but for those without.
Humboldt's first annual Walk for Water was held on April 27, starting from Elite Innovations Studio and Day Spa on south Main. St.
About 35 walkers of all ages, from children in strollers to the adults pushing them, headed out on this six-kilometre walk meant to raise awareness about how far children in some parts of the world have to walk to get drinking water.
The walk also raised funds for WaterCan, an organization which provides clean water, basic sanitation and hygiene education to people in some of the poorest regions in east Africa.
Six kilometres, noted Humboldt walk organizer Vicki Washburn, owner of Elite Innovations Studio and Day Spa, is the average distance women and children walk every day to get water. In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year walking for water.
About $2,500 was raised locally for WaterCan, which was pretty thrilling for Washburn and her team.
Washburn has been involved in Walks for Water in other parts of the province in the past, she noted. For the last four years, they've been travelling to Saskatoon to take part.
Then this year, she thought, "Why not bring it to Humboldt?"
She had set out with the goal of raising $1,500 for WaterCan from Humboldt. She set up a raffle, informed salon clients about what they were trying to do, and accepted donations, both in person and online.
"Our goal was to raise $1,500," Washburn said, as they wanted to start small this first year, and build.
But they were able to meet and exceed their goal by $1,000.
This year marked the fifth annual Walk for Water in Canada, which is organized by AVEDA, which sells professional hair and skin care products.
Elite Innovations carries the AVEDA product line, which is how they got involved in these Walks for Water.
Their mission at AVEDA is to care for the world we live in, Washburn explained. To date AVEDA EM initiatives have raised more than $18 million for global environmental issues and Walks for Water have raised more than $800,000 to combat the world water crisis.
That crisis has some alarming statistics.
For example, every 21 seconds, a child dies from lack of clean water.
This year, the goal of the Walks for Water was to raise $400,000 for WaterCan.
This year, over 2,000 water warriors were walking in 14 Canadian cities to raise awareness and money.
"Because of our partnership with WaterCan and the fundraising that we do today we together will make a considerable difference in the lives of many," Washburn said before the walk.
A short moment of silence was held before the walk began.
