Spring Break
Denton restaurants help provide water for children
Arlinda Arriaga
Issue date: 3/26/08 Section: ARTS & LIFE
Nine Denton restaurants raised their glasses last week in support of the UNICEF Tap Project.
The Tap Project is a nationwide campaign to raise money for clean, accessible water for children around the world. Participating restaurants across the country asked customers to donate $1 for the tap water they would normally receive at no cost.
The project started in 2007 when only New York City restaurants participated. This year, restaurants across the country were invited to help.
Michelle Kuzov, owner of Banter, said her restaurant participated because there is a need for awareness.
"I was surprised, but many people were willing to donate to the cause," she said.
Kuzov said although water is free, she felt it was important to donate to the efforts of charities.
Andrea Aguirre-Alvarado, a Lima, Peru, freshman and advocacy chair of the new UNICEF chapter at NT, said she thought project helped create awareness about the realities many face.
"Although many people do not realize it, having access to clean water is a privilege," she said. "Many people in poor nations, and especially children, die every day of different diseases that they get due to the lack of clean water, and this is unacceptable."
Aguirre-Alvarado said the project was one of the group's main activities this semester as the organization's main goals are to create awareness of the terrible conditions in which many children around the world live and to advocate for change by influencing prominent people.
Organization members visited several restaurants around the Denton area to recruit them to the project.
Olivia de Guzman, co-owner of Art 6, said her business is always willing to help out.
"This project is very appropriate, and it just seems right because it affects everyone," she said.
Though the Tap Project water week was during Denton universities' spring break, de Guzman said the project was still a success.
Aguirre-Alvarado said she was happy with the money collected during the week because it will help provide many people with clean water. Just $1, she said, can provide a poor child with clean water for 40 days.
"This was really an amazing experience to me," she said. "I cannot really describe the huge satisfaction that I felt every time one of the restaurant managers said that he or she was willing to be part of this project."
According to the UNICEF Web site, it is the world's leading children's organization.
It provides access to safe water and sanitation facilities while promoting safe hygiene practices in more than 90 countries where more than 5,000 children die every day as a result of water-borne diseases.
Aguirre-Alvarado said because people in this nation are born with so many opportunities, they often don't realize the many who are suffering.
"People in the United States have access to clean water, but water is a natural resource that we should all be sharing, so it is crucial to address this global issue," she said.
The Tap Project is a nationwide campaign to raise money for clean, accessible water for children around the world. Participating restaurants across the country asked customers to donate $1 for the tap water they would normally receive at no cost.
The project started in 2007 when only New York City restaurants participated. This year, restaurants across the country were invited to help.
Michelle Kuzov, owner of Banter, said her restaurant participated because there is a need for awareness.
"I was surprised, but many people were willing to donate to the cause," she said.
Kuzov said although water is free, she felt it was important to donate to the efforts of charities.
Andrea Aguirre-Alvarado, a Lima, Peru, freshman and advocacy chair of the new UNICEF chapter at NT, said she thought project helped create awareness about the realities many face.
"Although many people do not realize it, having access to clean water is a privilege," she said. "Many people in poor nations, and especially children, die every day of different diseases that they get due to the lack of clean water, and this is unacceptable."
Aguirre-Alvarado said the project was one of the group's main activities this semester as the organization's main goals are to create awareness of the terrible conditions in which many children around the world live and to advocate for change by influencing prominent people.
Organization members visited several restaurants around the Denton area to recruit them to the project.
Olivia de Guzman, co-owner of Art 6, said her business is always willing to help out.
"This project is very appropriate, and it just seems right because it affects everyone," she said.
Though the Tap Project water week was during Denton universities' spring break, de Guzman said the project was still a success.
Aguirre-Alvarado said she was happy with the money collected during the week because it will help provide many people with clean water. Just $1, she said, can provide a poor child with clean water for 40 days.
"This was really an amazing experience to me," she said. "I cannot really describe the huge satisfaction that I felt every time one of the restaurant managers said that he or she was willing to be part of this project."
According to the UNICEF Web site, it is the world's leading children's organization.
It provides access to safe water and sanitation facilities while promoting safe hygiene practices in more than 90 countries where more than 5,000 children die every day as a result of water-borne diseases.
Aguirre-Alvarado said because people in this nation are born with so many opportunities, they often don't realize the many who are suffering.
"People in the United States have access to clean water, but water is a natural resource that we should all be sharing, so it is crucial to address this global issue," she said.
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