Stepping Up for Clean Water Access

It’s easy to take safe, clean drinking water for granted when it’s always available. Louisville Pure Tap® flows fresh from the faucet for nearly a million people every day. That’s not the case in some communities here in America and around the world. Louisville-based WaterStep works to provide solutions, tools, and the training they need to access safe water.

For the second year in a row, Louisville Water and Louisville MSD teamed up for a shoe drive competition. All of the shoes collected for WaterStep help fund its global mission.

“Each pair of shoes will be shipped overseas by our exporter to those individuals in developing countries that need them the most! You have provided a direct compassionate opportunity for your employees,” said Pam Alaimo, WaterStep’s director of community engagement.

The Louisville Water Service Board kicked off the campaign at all four of its locations just before World Water Day on March 22. Employees quickly filled up the donation boxes with bags of gently used shoes.

“Within two weeks, I was already making the rounds to empty the boxes to make room for more shoes because the competition ran through Earth Day (April 22),” shared Communications Specialist and Service Board member, Kathleen Speicher. “It appeared customers also stepped up and donated several pairs to the donation box in our corporate office lobby. It was a proud moment to see how many people teamed up for a good cause!”

Together, Louisville Water and MSD collected 569 pounds of shoes! Although Louisville Water gets the repeat victory for donating the most shoes, the real winners are the communities that receive the necessary resources to supply fresh drinking water.