Last Sunday morning was cold, very cold to be precise. But that didn’t stop nearly a thousand devoted runners and activists from coming out to participate in Dow’s Live Earth “Run for Water” event. Held on Chicago’s beautiful Montrose Harbor, the run was only one part of the largest worldwide initiative to help combat the global water crisis.
|
| |
Run for Water
|
Montrose Harbor
Chicago, IL
April 18, 2010
|
| |
|
|
The Global Water Challenge took place in over 100 cities across 50 countries all over the world. “We made the run six kilometers because that is approximately how far someone in a third world country needs to go to find fresh water everyday,” said race director Karyn Serota.
A good cause is nothing without good people. They came out in force for the event all bundled up and ready to run. At 10 a.m. the buzzer chimed and a wall of people hit the course. The day slowly got warmer but not by much. Not only were they running for a cause but Mother Nature was going to make them work for it during the race.
But good deeds do get rewarded. By 11 a.m. all the runners had returned and were welcomed back with a special concert by Collective Soul. “You do anything you can if you’re in a position to make awareness. I want to make kids learn and make adults learn,” said lead singer Ed Roland “we have plastic bottles and water everywhere but it’s just not that way in most of the world.”
Taking the stage just after the awards were announced the band got right down to business and rocked the harbor. Playing it safe the band played mostly well-known favorites like “Shine”, “December” and “The World I Know” all of which the audience happily sang along with.
I have been a Collective Soul fan for at least a decade. Back in high school songs like “December” used to give me a high so the idea of seeing the band live seemed great. Sadly time has taken a toll on the band. They seemed to have lost their passion somewhere along the way. Roland, while he still has the amazing booming voice, sings the lyrics as if they were off cue cards. I can’t help but feel a bit disillusioned by the concert especially since the band really isn’t all that old.
Thankfully a special guest was brought in to inject life into the show. Keeping with the soul theme the band brought out the original Soul Man himself, Sam Moore. Moore is a R&B legend, one part of the pivotal band Sam & Dave. Together they produced classics like “I Can’t Stand It” and “Soul Man.”
Coming out in sweat pants and a towel Moore took over the stage and, without even trying, completely overshadowed Collective Soul. Only playing “Soul Man” and “I Thank You” he brought the house down.
The Global Water Challenge is a diverse coalition that consists of leading organizations working to provide creative and sustainable solutions for universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation. GWC’s mission is to generate a global movement to meet the urgent need for safe water and sanitation by spurring collective awareness and investment in water supply/sanitation innovation by corporate, public and nongovernmental actors.
Their challenge is to reach people with the tools and education they need to empower themselves. Access to clean water and sanitation leads to healthier, longer and more productive lives, and breaks the cycle of poverty. Water and sanitation are not just human rights, they are human necessities. More information about Global Water Challenge can be found at
www.globalwaterchallenge.org
Powered by AkoComment 2.0!
