Watermill Express Steps Up

BRIGHTON, CO — Imagine if you had to trudge nearly 6 kilometers every day to get water. Then imagine if that water was so dirty it caused diarrhea, cholera, and other life-threatening illnesses. For many people in developing countries, this is just a way of life. Yet it doesn’t have to be.

Watermill Express, which focuses on providing safe and affordable drinking water to communities in the United States, has already taken steps to help remedy the situation. “We hosted our first World Vision Global 6k last year in Edinburg, Texas, and it was a success,” says Lani Dolifka, CEO and co-founder of Watermill Express. “Over 180 participants plus several local businesses came out to join this amazing event to raise funds and awareness for those needing clean water around the world.”

For Dolifka, the Global 6K is an event that is close to her heart. In 2016, she traveled to Kenya with World Vision to experience the hardships of the vulnerable firsthand. In fact, she carried water like so many women and girls do around the world. “Carrying heavy cans of water every day is a physically and emotionally draining task” she recalls. “In some cases fetching water may take hours and often the water these women bring home is unfit for human consumption leaving the family little choice but to risk sickness and in some cases even death.”

“Although World Vision’s work is not easy, their commitment to building sustainable solutions for the poor reminds us that God’s love can overcome life’s toughest challenges.”

Dolifka’s passion for clean water carried over to the employees at Watermill Express. The staff banded together to serve as the organizers of the Global 6K, ensuring it was a fun and engaging activity for all the participants. This year, they hope to have more than 200 people from across the Rio Grande Valley entered in the event.

World Vision works in some of the hardest to reach places in the world,” notes Dolifka. “And although they are a Christian organization, they help people of all faiths and religious beliefs. Through my visits to the field, I’ve seen them care deeply about the most vulnerable—women and children. Although World Vision’s work is not easy, their commitment to building sustainable solutions for the poor reminds us that God’s love can overcome life’s toughest challenges.”