Clean Water Initiative Inspires Canadians as Program Approaches Donation Goal

Jason Priestley teams up with P&G and Walmart Canada to help raise 25 million days of clean drinking water
Feb 24, 2015 9:35 AM ET

TORONTO, February 24, 2015 /3BL Media/ - Canadians have come out in droves to support the P&G and Walmart Canada Clean Water program. To date, 20 million days of clean drinking water have been donated to those in need, propelling the clean water initiative to within 5 million days of clean water donated to reach its year-long donation goal. This month, Canadian actor, father and clean water advocate Jason Priestley rejoins the cause, rallying Canadians in the final push to donate 25 million days of clean drinking water by March 31, 2015.

To help save lives and provide more clean drinking water to those who need it, P&G will donate the equivalent of one day of clean drinking water for every participating P&G household product* purchased in Walmart stores or online at Walmart.ca from February 19 to March 19, 2015.

The P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water (CSDW) Program works with a network of partners to distribute P&G Purifier of Water packets, a technology developed by P&G to help reduce sickness and death resulting from drinking contaminated water. One small P&G turns 10 litres of potentially deadly water into clean, drinkable water. More than seven billion litres of clean drinking water have been provided by humanitarian organizations around the world using P&G packets, including CARE, PSI, Save the Children and World Vision, helping to save more than 45,000 lives in over 75 countries.

“I have witnessed the P&G Purifier of Water technology in action in the rural batey communities of the Dominican Republic, and now more than ever I understand the importance of reaching our goal,” said Priestley. “I’ve talked to mothers and fathers and their children too, and I’ve heard their stories of hope. The P&G packets are an incredibly simple and effective solution and contributions by Canadians are making a positive, measurable impact on the lives of families around the world.”

The success of the Canadian Clean Water initiative reflects the broader achievements of the global P&G CSDW Program. Over the last decade, the program has collaborated with 154 NGOs, charities and governments to raise awareness and deliver clean water.

“Our goal is to raise global consciousness about the daily struggle for clean drinking water, which affects more than 1 billion people worldwide,” explained Allison Tummon-Kamphuis, the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program leader. “By providing clean drinking water through this partnership with Walmart Canada, Canadians can help be part of the solution.”

“Support for the clean water campaign has been overwhelming so far and we’re so proud of the contributions made with the help of our customers,” said Lee Tappenden, chief merchandising officer at Walmart Canada. “We also want to let our customers know they can continue to support this initiative by purchasing their favourite P&G household products at Walmart in store or online.”

At the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative, P&G announced their intent to provide enough clean water to save one life every hour in the developing world by 2020. This can be made possible by the delivery of more than 2 billion litres of clean drinking water every year.

To find out more about this program, please visit www.csdw.org and www.walmart.ca/cleanwater.

About Procter & Gamble
P&G serves nearly five billion people around the world with its brands. The Company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, Wella® and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

About Walmart Canada
Walmart Canada operates a growing chain of 395 stores nationwide serving more than one million customers each day, as well as its flagship online store, www.walmart.ca, which is visited by over 400,000 Canadians daily. With 95,000 associates, Walmart Canada is one of Canada’s largest employers and is ranked one of Canada’s top 10 most influential brands. Walmart Canada’s extensive philanthropy program is focused on supporting Canadian families in need, and since 1994 Walmart has donated and raised more than $200 million to Canadian charities. Additional company information can be found at walmartcanada.ca, facebook.com/walmartcanada and at twitter.com/@walmartcanada.