Changing Lives Thru Clean Water, Rose Bowl Parade

The Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee Inc. presents “Changing Lives Through Clean Water” as the theme of our January 1, 2015 float.

This year the Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee’s entry into the 2015 Tournament of Roses parade focuses on our projects that give communities the ability to develop and maintain sustainable water and sanitation systems and support studies related to water and sanitation.

For millions of people throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America, getting clean water is a daily struggle.  In fact, more than 80% of all sickness in the world is attributed to unsafe water.  Nearly 1 billion people are without access to improved water sources and every 8 seconds, a child dies because of this crisis.  Rotary Club members join together to provide clean water and sanitation to literally save lives!

The need is significant:  Proper hand washing with soap and water can reduce diarrhea cases by up to 50 percent.  783 million people don’t have clean drinking water.  Six hours per day is spent by women in some rural parts of Africa collecting water from a remote source.

Primary activities undertaken by Rotary Clubs seek to: Improve sanitation facilities by providing toilets and latrines that flush into a sewer or safe enclosure; Promote good hygiene habits through education; Implement rain water harvesting systems to collect and store rainwater for drinking or recharging underground aquifers; and, Build wells to extract groundwater from underground aquifers.

The float is paid for thru contributions.

Why do we enter a float in the Rose Parade?

Paul Harris said, "In the promotion of Rotary, it is important to reach large numbers and you cannot reach them privately."