Updates from the Brad Paisley tour!

The Brad Paisley H2O II tour has been going strong, and Water = Hope has had a lot of success along the way!

We’ve made stops in 14 different cities now, have talked to over 4,000 people about clean water issues and worked with close to 100 volunteers in the process. And we are well on our way with our fundraising goals, using our time on the road this summer to once again involve the country fan community in bringing clean water to communities in need.



This past weekend we made two stops: Chicago and Columbus. Chicago saw our biggest volunteer crew yet, with 17 people joining us, some of whom drove from as far away as Milwaukee to be a part of the action. The team did great - it was our biggest night ever on the Paisley tour.



Columbus had smaller team, but they were very committed and ready to work! The torrential downpour of rain right when the doors opened didn’t even slow them down - they kept right on talking to people that had taken cover in some of the covered areas of the arena!

Our volunteers reflect the diversity of support that surrounds the clean water movement: last weekend alone with had students, retirees, non-profit executives, huge Brad Paisley fans, huge water.org fans, and a long time supporter of Senator Frist (co-founder of Water = Hope) among many others. It’s always exciting to see how issues such as this unite people in one common goal.



We are also pleased to see a lot of ‘return support’ on the tour itself; many fans have told us they supported the campaign last year, and are eager to do so again, buying a new shirt, signing up friends and family for more information, taking our info cards for classrooms, and so on.

We have five more stops ahead, Florida, Philly, DC and Raleigh. You can still sign up to volunteer, and if at one of the shows, be sure to stop by the Water = Hope tent to learn about how your support can enter you into a raffle to win an autographed Gibson guitar from Brad!

Brad Paisley and the H2O tour 2011!

We are very excited to be partnering with Water = Hope and Hope Through Healing Hands on the Brad Paisley on his H2O tour again this summer! Last year, Lokahi helped develop the Water = Hope campaign, and took the idea on the road, educating tens of thousands of country music fans about clean water issues, working with hundreds of volunteers across the nation, and raising enough donations to build wells in Africa!



Once again, we'll be taking to the road, talking to country fans all over the US about the importance of clean water and the role they can play in bringing water to millions of people around the globe. Last year, from the support of country fans across the nation, our partner Hope Through Healing Hands built three wells in Liberia, Uganda, and Ethiopia and installed water purification systems in homes lacking access to water in Appalachia. This year, we hope to build more wells and service more homes for families to have clean, safe water at home and around the world.

We can't do this with out your support - we need to volunteers to join us again this summer! Volunteers get an amazing opportunity to engage in important water issues, inspire fellow fans, and check out a Brad Paisley concert!

Learn more and get signed up today!



Visit our photos and blog to learn about the work we did with Brad on the 2010 H2O tour.

H2O Tour Wraps Up!

The H2O tour has wrapped up its summer run, and Lokahi is proud to have partnered with the Water = Hope campaign to build lots of support for clean water issues amongst country fans!

Our final two weeks on the tour were a bit of a whirlwind, with stops in San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Boise, Salt Lake City and Denver. Along the way, as always, we were joined by some amazing volunteers!



San Francisco and San Diego brought out lots of veteran volunteers, many of whom worked with us on tours with the ONE Campaign in years past – it was great to see familiar faces like Rochelle, Mary and Christine – all of whom were among the first ONE volunteers we ever worked with! It was a lot of fun to get to talk to so many fans while in California. From there, we moved on to Phoenix, where we were amazed to learn it can be over 100 degrees in September, go figure! We were joined by a massive crew of volunteers, including some veterans from our work on the Warped Tour and with Dave Matthews, and lots of new volunteers from local high schools and colleges as well. Albuquerque proved to be one of the best nights on the entire tour; we were joined by an AWESOME team of volunteers: college students and high school students and community members who all are passionate about clean water issues. We had one of our best nights of the entire tour in Albuquerque, a direct result of our awesome volunteer team! We also met author Sandra Postel who has written extensively about clean water issues; she was in the crowd and saw our PSA show on stage before the show, and came out to find us! You can learn more about her here.



As we headed out for out the very final weekend of the tour, we made our first stop in Boise, Idaho. After an eventful first couple of hours (including trying to track down our missing tour bus!!), we met our awesome volunteer crew for the night. The venue that we were at was on the Boise State campus, so we weren’t surprised that we had many dedicated BSU do-gooders! We had Katelyn and Daniel, freshman year roommates who actually went to their dorm and signed-up their whole floor, as Tara with her friend, as well as a couple other students. We also had a mother with her three daughters who were huge Brad Paisley fans and did awesome throughout the night!! All in all it was a great first night back, thanks to all the cool people and Water = Hope supporters that Boise had to offer.

After a three AM bus visit from Easton Corbin and his crew due to their bus breaking down, we landed in Salt Lake City and met our one man volunteer crew for the night. Josh, who had just moved to SLC recently to pursue his love of skiing, worked by himself and helped get the majority of our sign-ups for the night. He is really dedicated to volunteer work, and expressed over and over how much he really liked Water = Hope’s vision and goals. It was great working with him and we are so thankful to him for helping us out in Utah!

Next we were off to Denver, Colorado, a bit unhappily because it would be Water = Hope’s last night working with the tour. We weren’t ready for it to end! However we couldn’t have ended the whole journey with a better crew, twelve dedicated and hardworking individuals who agreed that we should end it all with a bang! We had a group of four people that came individually and throughout the night bonded over the Water = Hope work, and they ended up leaving as friends after watching the show together. Then we had our basketball girls, who all played together on the local high school team. Michaela, Lindsay, Bree and a few friends worked the entire night to get those donations and raised almost two hundred dollars between them, as well as getting a ton of signatures. All you Colorado-ians were so supportive of Water = Hope and we had such a huge amount of people walking up to the table that we could barely talk to all of you! In between watching the crew play pranks on the artists as they performed and watching the donations pile up, I think everyone agreed that we had a great last night in Denver!



After four months of weekends full of talking to fans about clean water in 33 different cities, we are proud to announce that Water = Hope hit our goal of raising $20,000 to build wells, and signed up nearly 14,000 people in support of the Simon Water for the World Act. Perhaps more importantly, this means that some 14,000 conversations about clean water happened over this summer between our volunteers & campaign team and the fans in each city, and we can only hope that some of those 14,000 people are going to share that message, get inspired to volunteer themselves or even lead clean water initiatives in their own communities.

None of this would be possible without the hard work and help of the 239 volunteers that joined us this summer; they inspired us night after night with their dedication – again, a HUGE thank you to all of you that joined us! We are proud to know that they’ll take what they learned and work to inspire thousands more this fall and spring on their campuses and their communities so that we can bring clean water to even more people.

Water = Hope and Lokahi truly believe in this idea of ‘a small drop making a big ripple’; the work of our volunteers and the fans that supported the campaign this summer is all the evidence that we need.

Keep checking in for more campaign updates and ways you can get involved; visit the Water = Hope/Hope Through Healing Hands Facebook page to stay updated, and check out all of our pictures from the summer!

Water = Hope goes to Texas!

Another guest post by our blogger/campaigner Kelsey Neff!
-Brande



After a 16 hour bus ride, we started our Texan adventure in Hidalgo. At first we were a little concerned about how the night would pan out, especially when we heard that the Brad Paisley H2O tour was the first show of this magnitude to perform at this newer venue. We were pleasantly surprised when our AWESOME volunteer crew arrived, consisting of eleven Water = Hope supporters.

We learned that Konsuelo heard about Water = Hope through an ad on Facebook, and she told her brother Jesse who then told all of our other volunteers about it. By the end of the night we decided that we wanted to hire Jesse and his friend Isaac to recruit all of our volunteers, they were that awesome! We had our best night in Texas in Hidalgo, even though we had a crowd a third of the size as our other shows, which is a direct result of our great team. Thank you so much for coming out guys, we really appreciate all the work you did!

Our next stop (after a 3am bus visit from the Mexican border patrol…no joke!), was Houston where we were expecting a pretty large crew for the night. We started and ended the night with nine individuals who sweated it out with us in the hot Houston heat!! We had five high school friends, a mother with her two daughters and also Kallie, who was our big earner for the night. About half of our volunteers had never volunteered before and we were grateful that they decided to come and help us get those wells built! We were happy that at the end of the night they told us that they didn’t know that volunteering could be so much fun. Glad you guys could make it out!

The last city we visited was Dallas, which turned out to be a really great night! We had a smaller volunteer crew of three high school aged girls, Chelsea, Melody, and Lauren. They heard about Water = Hope through their aunt, who had volunteered for us in Cincinnati, and really wowed us with their hard work! We really enjoyed talking to them and were glad that they could make it out.

We also had Nicolas come out, who started out as a fan that we talked to in Chicago. He really liked Water = Hope and what we are trying to do on the tour, so he came back and volunteered for us. He was also so inspired that he wants to start a Water = Hope campus program on his college campus!! In Dallas we also had a visit from Jane Lynch Crain, who works with Hope Through Healing Hands.

She came by to check out the tent and see what we were up to and we were glad that she did!! We had a great night in Dallas and loved the response that we got from country fans there. Everyone that we talked to was so gracious and responsive to the goals we have for the H20 tour. Thank you so much Dallas, you were all amazing!!

This week we’re in Florida, starting in Daytona Beach then moving on to Tampa and West Palm Beach, come out and volunteer for us!!

Check out more photos here!

Creating clean water in Illinois!

By Kelsey Neff, Lokahi's guest campaigner and blogger for the Water = Hope campaign this summer!

We’re back on the road again with the Brad Paisley H2O World Tour, visiting Chicago and Moline, IL last weekend!



Friday morning greeted us with hot temperatures and even hotter humidity! The severe temperatures didn’t sway you hardcore country fans, or our even more dedicated Water = Hope volunteer crew! We had a great crew of volunteers, starting the day with 12 dedicated do-gooders. We had three sets of best friends and high school students who had volunteered at other shows like this, and who collected an awesome amount of e-mails and donations. We also had Barry, Bob and Betty who went out on their own to talk to people about Water = Hope. Bob was an experienced campaigner who had volunteered at a U2 show a couple years back with the ONE Campaign, and impressed us by raising a lot of money for those wells, working so hard we barely saw him! We also had a best friend duo who worked together at a school and also were on their feet moving for the majority of the night. Everyone did a great job, thanks to all of you for suffering through the heat with us!



We got a great response from fans in Chicago, raising almost three dollars for every e-mail we collected! People were very interested in our goals and wanted to show their support in many ways. We had a couple people from Texas that wanted to volunteer for us when we head that way, and others that grabbed t-shirts for a bunch of their friends and family. The show was fantastic and the crowd was great. Thanks for an awesome night Chicago!



In Moline we met Colin and Erica and their friends who were committed to matching the success we had in Chicago, even though we only had a third of the volunteers! They were energetic and passionate about Water = Hope and impressed us with their results. We had a little bit less of a crowd in Moline, but we still got a really good response from Brad Paisley fans. One fan even looked through her phone and signed her whole family up on our e-mail sheet; she said she knew that they would want to support this cause. We also had a lot of fans that stopped by our table and then sent their friends back to sign up. The support we felt in both Chicago and Moline was really great; thanks for a successful first weekend back Illinois!

We’ll be back on the road this weekend as well, hitting up Cleveland and Saratoga.
In August, we’ll be in Texas and Florida; visit the Water = Hope website to learn more and volunteer: http://www.waterequalshope.com/

Our biggest nights yet!

Five weeks into the tour, our campaign with Water = Hope is making a big impact with Brad Paisley fans! We just finished shows in Darien Lake, NY and Philadelphia, bringing the first ‘leg’ of the tour to a finish with some impressive results!

Our show at Darien Lake - located between Buffalo and Rochester - had us a little concerned about being able to recruit volunteers, since it is a bit of a drive from either city. We were excited to have a great crew of volunteers come out and join us: a mother, daughter & aunt team of Susan, Carol and Melissa, as well as Corey, Chelsea, Cary and Lyndsey, who are a combination of friends, sisters and fiances that all drove into from Rochester! Our team did great, helping us sign up lots of new supporters and raising lots of money for our well building projects, working all night to talk to Brad fans about the importance of clean water.



We got a lot of support from the crowd from the minute the doors opened until the very last fans left the venue; Nick and Francis, pictured below, kept talking to us long after security ushered everyone out and loaded up on Water = Hope materials to help spread the word among their friends in Buffalo.



An overnight bus trip brought us into Philly in the morning. On a personal note, I’ll admit to some bias: I love doing shows in Philadelphia, I’ve always gotten a lot of support for the campaigns I’ve worked from the fans there, and everyone seems to be in a perpetually good mood! Our show Saturday night lived up to my expectations, giving us the biggest night we have had yet on the tour.

Our night in Philly was a direct result of an AMAZING volunteer crew that we can’t thank enough: Bill and Brianna are high school students and friends who worked so hard all night that it felt like we barely saw them, LeeAnn is a huge Brad Paisley fan and supporter of water initiatives like this, and was a huge help at our busy booth, Neil and Yang are cousins; Neil is an exchange student from China and Yang took a train up from Washington DC just to join us and help out!



Then we had ‘the girls’: Angelina and Danielle are old friends who frequently volunteer together, and Sara, Angelique, Samantha and Rebecca are all friends and in high school. Both groups of ladies took to the parking lots to talk to the tailgating crowd before the doors opened, and they took on our ‘friendly challenge’ of which volunteer could sign up the most volunteers with a passion. Early on, it looked like Angelina and Danielle would take home the Water = Hope hoodie prize (together, the two of them signed up well over 300 new supporters!) but the sister team of Sara and Angelique edged them out; they signed up 200 new supporters EACH, a record for the tour! The crowd in Philly was full of love for Water = Hope; fans are really excited about our well building project, loving the idea of country fans working together to bring water to a community that needs it. We had our biggest night yet both in new Water = Hope supporters and in the money we were able to raise for the wells, and we also signed up lots of new Philly volunteers to join our incredible team of campaigners!



The tour is taking a break for a few weeks - we’ll be back at work in Chicago in the middle of July. In the meantime, there are all sorts of ways to support Water = Hope: text H2O to 25383 to give $10, and you can sign up and a part of one our amazing volunteer teams by visiting our volunteer page. You can also check out more photos from the tour (and tag yourself if you are in them!) on our Facebook page.

In Detroit and Pittburgh with Water = Hope

Water = Hope paid a visit to Detroit and Pittsburgh this past weekend as part of our ongoing work on the Brad Paisley summer H2O tour!

We were greeted by enthusiastic fans and volunteers in Detroit, which made for a great night! We talked to lots of people, including several who were interested in volunteering and becoming involved with the campaign on a local level and on their campuses, something we always like to hear.



Our volunteers consisted of two ‘teams’ of people: Stephanie and Nicole, sisters on their summer break (from college and high school) and our team of enthusiastic high school girls: Erica, Emmy, Betsy and Marissa.



Our crew did a great job, talking to lots of people and getting them excited about bringing clean water to people around the world. We were a bit limited in what we could do in Detroit due to the way the venue was set up, but our volunteer crew were true troopers, making the most of it and getting a record number of fans to take part in our text message fundraising campaign.



We loaded up our stuff and got on the tour bus bound for Pittsburgh the next day. Saturday morning we were greeted by the tour crew worried about thunderstorms that never actually materialized (we seemed to be blessed by the weather fairies this tour, knock on wood!) so we set up somewhat concerned, but forged ahead. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any volunteers joining us that night (Pittsburgh - we need some people, sign up and join!) but we made the most of it, signing up lots of new supporters and raising money to bring a needing community a well. Fans are really excited about this idea, really responding to the notion of the Paisley & country music fan base being able to create clean water for those that need it through the combined small actions of many over the course of the tour. While walking the lawn before the show, I talked to lots and lots of people who were really excited about what Water = Hope is doing, so we are eager to get community efforts moving in Pittsburgh as well!



After loading out once Brad was finished Saturday night, we were surprised to find Josh Thompson and some of his band setting up for an impromptu midnight bluegrass session next to our bus! Josh is a big supporter of Water = Hope, not only taking part in our PSA but always ‘re-tweeting’ our Twitter posts and helping to spread the word on Facebook, and he’s a great musician and all around nice guy. It was a great way to end a wonderful weekend!

We’ll be back out again this weekend before we take a break while the tour goes to Europe. We will be in Darien Center (Buffalo and Rochester regions of NY) and Philly on Friday and Saturday - as always, we’d love to have you sign up and volunteer!

Water = Hope launches in Virginia Beach!

We kicked off our campaign for Water = Hope with Brad Paisley last night in Virginia Beach!


Our first ever Water = Hope volunteer crew

We were joined by six awesome volunteers: Cheyenne, Katelyn, Ciara, Chandler and Carrie are all high school students in the Virginia Beach area, and Robyn, (Chandler and Carrie’s mom!), was also there working all evening. It was a first time volunteer experience for most of our team, and in turn, it was the first time Water = Hope has had volunteers help us at a show, and they did great - signing up hundreds of people, getting a lot of support for the Simon Water for the World Act.


Fans join Water = Hope!

Hope Through Healing Hands Chairman Senator Frist also joined us, helping to talk to fans and getting them excited about the potential in bringing cleaning water to the one billion that lack it.


Senator Frist and Paisley fans

Being in Virginia Beach, we also talked with lots of fans that were current or retired members of the military, many of whom had seen the need for clean water around the world first hand and were eager to lend their support.

We also got a lot of love from the Paisley crew - Brad himself came by and picked up a shirt from our booth, so keep an eye out for it to appear on stage sometime soon. The tour continues on to Washington DC tonight, and we are looking forward to getting more and more people involved!

If you’d like to join us as a volunteer, be sure to get signed up for a show coming to your town soon!

Water = Hope campaign - volunteer!

Lokahi is excited to be partnering with Hope Through Healing Hands and their recently launched Water = Hope campaign; check out the website we just created to learn more.

We are also looking for volunteers to make this campaign a huge success:



A small drop can create a huge ripple.

Join Water = Hope as a volunteer on the Brad Paisley tour this summer and bring clean water to the millions that need it!

Hope Through Healing Hands is launching a nationwide effort around our Water = Hope campaign this spring and summer. Building on the idea that one individual can create a ripple, we are creating and supporting opportunities for volunteers to mobilize across the country to engage others in the clean water movement, advocate for smart clean water legislation, and promote investment in clean water projects globally.

Being a clean water campaigner can take on lots of different looks: you might lead efforts on your campus, you might be organizing meetings in your neighborhood, you might be joining us at national events – it’s really up to you! Water = Hope will be providing you with the training, information, materials and support that you need to make your efforts a huge success, building a grassroots movement of people committed to bringing clean water to those 890 million who lack it.

We are working with volunteers that will lead efforts in their communities and campuses around clean water, and who will be joining us at concerts and other events this summer, leading efforts to invest, connect and advocate.

In particular, we will be at all US Brad Paisley tour dates from May through September, and need volunteers to join us at the concerts!


To join us as a volunteer and learn more, please visit: http://waterequalshope.com/volunteer/