King
July 17, 2008 12:35 AM
Kelly Grasser
Hot weather can be dangerous, even lethal, for the GTA’s homeless, but three York teenagers are helping to keep everyone hydrated this summer.
Gianluca Santaguida, Matthew Gambino and Adam Masciangelo, three Grade 10 students at the Country Day School in King, spent July 8 lugging case after case of bottled water for Project Water.
It’s a charity that distributes donated bottled water to agencies to distribute to the homeless and vulnerable people in the 416 and 905 areas.
“When I heard about it, I thought it was cool to do,” said Gianluca, who lives in Woodbridge.
“I thought it would be a good idea to help out,” added Matthew, also from Woodbridge.
Jody Steinhauer, Project Water’s co-founder, said agencies that receive the charity’s help tell her year after year that it’s saving lives.
She said she came up with the idea about a decade ago when she found out that more homeless people die in the summer than in the winter in the GTA.
“I said, ‘This is crazy. This is Toronto. I’m going to change that,’” Ms Steinhauer said.
This is now the eighth summer Project Water has been in existence.
The charity has distributed more than a million bottles of water to more than 100 frontline agencies in the area, including in York Region.
Project Water’s donation of water is critical to Salvation Army’s operations, said Jeff Noel, the Salvation Army’s central divisional emergency services director.
The water is passed out during heat alerts to the homeless and vulnerable people such as the elderly, as well as in forced evacuation situations such as fires or floods.
It’s used to service Salvation Army clients in both the Toronto and York areas.
Project Water is a source the charity can always depend on, Mr. Noel said, adding that there have only been a few times in his memory where the Salvation Army has had to purchase bottled water.
Agencies apply for donations of bottles to Project Water during the winter for distribution for the summer.
The staff at Ms Steinhauer’s company, the Bargains Group, are the ongoing volunteers for Project Water, but she said that on distribution days, she’ll use about 75 volunteers such as Matthew, Adam and Gianluca.
Matthew said he’ll definitely help Project Water out again when the chance comes up.
“Not only do we need (community) hours to graduate, but you feel good when you do things like that,” Adam said, adding that people like him can easily access water but there’s plenty of others around that can’t.
You can find out more about Project Water at
projectwater.ca