Tap Project

Organization Spotlight

By Christina Orlovsky

Restaurants across America may differ greatly in cuisine, clientele and cost, but there’s one thing that you can almost always count on when you dine out: a free—unlimited—glass of water. However, what many Americans may take for granted is often a luxury for much of the world’s population. This month, a global organization is looking local and asking San Diegans to rethink the way we drink.

Tap Project, launched in New York City in 2007, is a UNICEF program aimed at providing access to safe water in communities throughout the world. This year, Tap Project is expanding to 13 cities across the country; San Diego is one of them, thanks to Fishtank Brand Advertising, whose founders were inspired by the New York pilot program.

“I attended The Next Big Idea Conference in New York last year and it was the first time I’d heard about Tap Project,” explains Ryan Berman, chief creative director of Fishtank Brand Advertising, who brought the agency from New York to San Diego three and a half years ago.

“I had the opportunity to bring Tap Project to San Diego and thought it would be really nice to do something good and to put San Diego on the map with the other big markets that were participating: Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Seattle,” he continues. “San Diego has always had its own issues with water and fire, but this is the opportunity to do something bigger—something that’s for the children of the world.”

The concept of Tap Project is simple: During World Water Week, March 16-22, diners who eat at participating San Diego restaurants will be asked to contribute one dollar for the water that they’d normally receive for free. That one dollar, according to UNICEF, can provide one child with safe drinking water for 40 days; 40 children with safe drinking water for one day; or 100 water purification tablets to provide safe drinking water for children in crisis situations.

“We’re simply asking people to ‘Dine out and Donate’ for one week,” Berman says. “They’ll eat out—which is something people normally do—but they’ll be paying for something they slightly take for granted: clean, safe water. They’re thinking globally, but being patrons locally."

Berman added that currently around 30 local restaurants, including Dussini, Stingaree, Rama and Anthology, have signed on to participate and the agency is in the midst of recruiting more.

“This is a great way to fuel the economy of San Diego by driving people to restaurants while also doing something on a greater scale—your dollar spent here will help people across the world,” Berman concludes.

For more information, visit www.tapproject.org/sandiego.