Water insecurity. It’s a term not many people are familiar with, but one every single person should know. Why? Because many of the worlds leading scientists point to water insecurity, or the scarcity of water clean enough to drink, as one of the worlds top issues that could lead to global calamity. According to the World Economic Forum, in 2012 “783 million people, or 11% of the global population, remain without access to an improved source of drinking water.” The World Bank estimates ” 1.7 million people die annually due to unsafe water, lack of sanitation and unhygienic practices; 90% of those deaths are children under age five.” Digging deeper into the data shows that over 40% of the 783 million people without access to adequate drinking water (313,200,000 people) live in Africa. It is a global crisis that doesn’t seem to get much air but BLUE Missions Group is working to change that.
As a kid, one of the most fun things I can remember doing was filling up as many water balloons as I possibly could, even if I was by myself, and throwing them. Of course I dreaded picking up the hundreds of pieces of balloons all over the yard, but in the end, it was worth it. Co-founders of BLUE Missions Group Daniel and Nicole Rodriguez have came up with an ingenious way of raising money and awareness to a growing problem, all while having an insane amount of fun: Miami’s largest water balloon fight! Now before you say it, no, this event is not wasting a single drop of water. As part of their green strategy, BLUE asked the city of Miami to turn off the sprinklers in Tamiami Park for a full week leading up to the event – so instead of getting it’s water from sprinklers this week, Tamiami Park will be getting it’s water from you hitting people with water balloons! BLUE has also teamed up with Miami-Dade Water & Sewer to assist in the filling of the 100,000 water balloons – The “I Love Tap Water” division of Miami-Dade Water & Sewer has devised filling devices that will minimize any waste that would occur filling up the water balloons.
BLUE Missions brings you “Every Drop Counts,” Miami’s biggest water balloon fight that will be taking place Saturday, April 13 at Tamiami Park from 9:30am to 3pm. But the event isn’t just throwing some water balloons and then going home – it’s a mini-festival! The water balloon fight is scheduled to start at 10am and last for approximately 30 minutes, but then afterwards you and your family and friends can check out the live music going on while you’re chowing down on food that local vendors and food trucks are cooking up! Plus there will be other local community organizers and local non-profits promoting their causes and spreading the word. It’s a win-win-win for every person involved. You can [CLICK HERE] and pre-register for “Every Drop Counts” for only $20 or you can register on site for $30.