UNICEF has developed a cool new way to include people in their successful Tap Project. The Tap Project was launched on World Water Day on 22nd March 2007 as a nationwide project that provides children from impoverished nations with access to safe and clean water. The project also aims to raise awareness about the dangers of waterborne illnesses which causes the death of nearly 4,000 children under 5 every day! It began by encouraging guests at New York restaurants to pay $1 for their tap water that they would usually get for free. It then expanded to restaurants around the United States and began gaining the support of high profile people to join the cause such as Lenny Kravitz and Giorgio Armani.
UNICEF has now developed a new app that allows Facebook users to participate by initially donating $5 (or equivalent) and inviting two friends to join. This then provides portable water to a child for 200 days. A donation allows you to open your tap and pass the water onto two friends, who then donate and open their tap and so on. This activity is all mapped out within the Facebook app where you can watch your network grow and feel as though you are a part of something bigger. The activity currently stands at 1,097 taps open, $5,390 donated which equals to 215,600 days of clean water to those who knew them. It’s a really fun, interactive way to see the effect you can have by donating a small amount of money.
UNICEF has also enlisted the help of celebrities to raise awareness for the new social media ‘taps’. Celebrity favourites such as Seth Rogen, Heidi Klum, Kevin Spacey, Emmy Rossum and Sting, to name just a few, are going to be promoting the campaign by starting their own ‘tap’ networks that will be visible to all, and will encourage their fans to join via their twitter and Facebook pages. This could deem incredibly successful due to the amount of fans and social influence they have over the people who follow them.
Click on this link to get involved and start your own tap network : https://apps.facebook.com/uniceftapproject/
I started my own tap network today! The $5 donation turned out to be just £3.41 and has given someone 200 days of clean water 🙂
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