Sitting on my desk is a 32 oz. bottle of water. I’ve gotten in the habit of filling it each morning, and quaffing it during the day. It’s mountain water, drawn from a spring in the Santa Cruz mountains. On days I forget to bring it, I’m forced to pay a buck and a quarter for a bottle of water from the vending machine. I don’t often forget.
Having easy access to water is something we take for granted. Yeah, we can talk about water pollution — it’s a serious issue in America — but, on the whole, our water is quite clean, quite safe. And there’s so much of it.
It pours from our taps. It’s sold in grocery stores. Kids get it from garden hoses. But in most of the world, it’s not so easy to get. The idea that I would have to walk two or three miles to get a bucket of water is just amazing. Yet, in most places in the world, people do just that — and not just in times of catastrophe, but every day.
You and I aren’t going to solve the water problem in a day. One concert isn’t going to populate the world with wells. But we can make a difference.
On May 15, several bands will rock the mount, and we’ll be accepting donations for a water project in West Africa, to install one well in a community of 5,000. It’s only one well, but it’s well within our reach. We can do this.
We encourage all to be a part of the experience.
For more on the well, read here.
Mark Adams is the event's organizer. He also performs as a solo acoustic act. Visit