Jon Rose - High Fives | Teton Gravity Research

In 2009, surfer Jon Rose was on a boat on his way to Bali when an earthquake hit Sumatra, leveling Padang and limiting the city’s access to clean water. After witnessing the devastation from the storm, he founded Waves for Water, a nonprofit organization that distributes water filters to areas that don’t have clean water.The organization pitched in after Hurricane Sandy and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Now, Rose and Waves for Water are trying to get surfers and other adventurers to bring water filters with them when they travel and then give these filters to communities in need. Thanks to its simple nature, this approach aims to impact as many places as possible.

What do you hope to accomplish with Waves for Water?

Our goal is to get clean water to every single person who needs it. Waves For Water works on the front lines to provide clean water to communities in need around the world. In addition to our primary focus around clean water, the organization has coordinated disaster relief efforts following earthquakes in Indonesia and Haiti, post-tsunami Japan, Pakistan, Brazil, and Hurricane Sandy in the U.S. We work with world leaders and strategic partners who take a no-nonsense attitude toward making global change.

So what does that look like?

Our organizational structure and work is built upon trying to get as many people as possible involved in this mission. The idea isn’t to get one person to drop off a hundred clean water filters and call it a day. Instead, we try to get 100,000 travelers to each pack ten small filters, or team up with groups to implement projects with larger filters for an entire village. The biggest thing I like to highlight and remember is to always think about addressing this challenge in a decentralized way, a viral way. As a group, a movement, we can solve this problem, and in our lifetime no less.

“Our entire mantra for W4W is: ‘Go do what you love, and help along the way.” So that's exactly what we do: We go out into the world and follow our passion, and then we plug the purpose into that—not the other way around.”

What are you focusing on now?

This year we have partnered with The Association of Surfing Professionals to implement our clean water programs in under-served areas on the tour and worldwide. A percentage of event funds are being allocated to implement programs in the cities that will host these events. There are more than ten events in five regions, which will result in a minimum of 200,000 people getting access to clean water. I’m excited about this partnership. It’s going to be a really fun initiative and I don’t think we can truly anticipate the impact it will have, not only on the places we choose to implement and help, but also for the surfing community as a whole.

How does being a surfer impact your mission?

My dad used to ask me when I was a kid if I was having fun when I was doing something. If I said no, he'd say, “Then why are you doing it?” I've never lost sight of this. Our entire mantra for W4W is: “Go do what you love, and help along the way.” So that's exactly what we do: We go out into the world and follow our passion, and then we plug the purpose into that—not the other way around.

What can I (or any single person) do to help?

You can become a clean water courier for Waves For Water. Those are everyday travelers, distributing filters to those in need around the globe. There are a few different ways to get involved. You can find missions in progress trying to raise money for projects around the world and donate to them, or you can create your own Clean Water Courier Mission and get filters to distribute on your next adventure.

There are three filters clean water couriers can purchase to bring with them on their travels and then give to locals who need access to clean water. The idea was just to create options and teach people that there are many ways to address this problem, ultimately eliminating any reasons for people to talk themselves out of it. There's something for every situation.

Find out more: http://www.wavesforwater.org/couriers: