CHARLESTON, S.C., March 14, 2011—Water Missions International is hosting its 5^th Annual Walk for Water on Saturday, March 19, 2011 to spread awareness about the global water crisis and raise money to provide safe water for people in need. The Opening Ceremony starts at 10:00 am with a welcome from Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr.

The 3.5-mile walk will begin and end in Cannon Park at 129 Rutledge Avenue in downtown Charleston. The walk is a family-friendly event, and people of all ages are encouraged to form teams and raise funds to support Water Missions International.  The Walk for Water will also be the first public announcement of Water Missions International celebrating 10 years of safe water.

The walk coincides with the United Nation’s World Water Day (March 22nd) and is inspired by the distance that millions of women and children must walk each day to collect drinking water—often from a contaminated source.  Walkers are encouraged to start the event with a water bucket, fill it with water at the halfway point and carry it to the finish.

Presenting sponsors for the 5^th Annual Walk for Water are Glasspro and The GEL Group. Supporting sponsors include: The Pentair Foundation, Roper St. Francis Healthcare, Chick-fil-A, Seacoast Church, SC Federal Credit Union, Hagemeyer North America, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina, Piggly Wiggly, Charleston Water System, The InterTech Group, Education InSite, Palmetto Primary Care Physicians, Fox Music Rentals, Knight Press, The Printing Group, James Island Presbyterian Church, St. Timothy Mission Auxiliary, Novus Architects, Inc., Beyond Wealth, LLC, Companion Global Healthcare, and Weston & Sampson.

For more information about Water Missions International or the 2011 Walk for Water, please visit www.WaterMissions.org/walk or call 843-769-7395.

Water Missions International is an engineering relief and development Christian nonprofit.  Its engineers, staff and volunteers design and provide sustainable, safe water solutions to disaster victims worldwide and people in 49 developing countries.  Since 2001, Water Missions International has responded to the world's largest natural disasters and daily tackles the world’s single biggest cause of illness - lack of safe water and adequate sanitation (U.N. Report, 2005) by providing safe water to more than 2 million people.  Charleston, S.C.-based Water

Missions International has received Charity Navigator's top rating five years in a row.  To help, visit WaterMissions.org