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The story of the What About Blue? organization starts with the tale of how the name came about. A group of three Tampa Bay friends wanted to raise awareness about the global water crisis. Kevin Lilly, Jesse Landis and Missy Hurley wanted to form an active group to make a positive change. “We were trying to think of names,” said Lilly. They definitely wanted something easy for people to remember them by. They realized that color-branding just might do the trick. “When I say ‘pink,’ you think of breast cancer awareness. When I say ‘green,’ you think of the environment,” Lilly said. The group started playing around with that concept, and suddenly Lilly blurted out as a color possibility: “What about blue?” And that started it all.

As a “blue” movement, WAB wants to work as a complement to the “green” movement -- which makes sense, since clean water is a major component of a clean environment. He feels it does need to be its own movement, but certainly not something in competition with being green.

One in five people doesn’t have access to clean water, which means there are 1.2 billion people without drinkable, disease-free water. What About Blue? hopes to change that through charitable donations and awareness-raising plans.

Charitable donations: Money matters

People who donate just $5 to the group’s Web site can help buy someone across the planet clean water. A donation of $5 every month can save 12 lives (Lilly refers to this as “a latte for a life”- by donating what you’d normally spend on one latte every month, you can make a difference). Every penny of Web site donations go directly to the cause.

For those who want to feel special and receive something in return, WAB has teamed up with the

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Raising awareness: Or, how can kayaking save lives?

WAB, with folks from all over the country, is taking it upon themselves to kayak down the mighty Mississippi River to raise awareness and funds to combat the water crisis. Throughout the trip, they’ll visit around 100 cities and do what they can to raise more money and help more people. Some of the trip’s proceeds will go to local and national groups that clean up waterways and restore natural habitats. The remaining one-third of the money will go to international efforts in Africa.

On July 1, the kayaking crew will head to the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca, Minnesota. Then, they’ll be in Bemidji, Minnesota by July 4, and they’ll cast off from there for the official “bon voyage”, July 6. They’ll row for two days and rest for one, giving them a chance to help out local environmental groups while they rest their weary arms.

Once they get to Minneapolis/St. Paul, our cause-fueled kayakers will join up with about 400 other kayaking enthusiasts for the Mississippi River Challenge in late July. And then they’ll continue through St. Louis, Memphis, and Baton Rouge before finally making their way to New Orleans at the end of October for a big ol’ celebration at Voodoo Fest. And it’ll be a long, wet, sweaty journey of pup tents and campfires.

“We’re not staying in hotels,” Lilly said. The crew will be camping along the banks of the Mississippi River for the entire trek. Luckily for them, there’ll be some fun along the way, like concerts and other entertaining forms of getting the WAB name out there for the public to see. There will be GPS updates of the kayaking team’s progress on the Web site.

Where’s it all going to?

Lilly aims for WAB to work on three levels: locally, nationally, and globally. In each city the kayaking crew gets to visit, he wants to do something positive there, like helping with waterway cleanups or eliminating area pollution. National concerns include habitat restoration and conservation efforts.

For the international aspect of the project, Lilly stated how he wants to provide money to build freshwater wells in various areas of Africa (including Zimbabwe). He hopes to work with numerous organizations like African Leadership and Charity Water. “I want to give the money to someone who can build the wells,” he said. “I want to ask them, ‘How much would it cost to build a well here?’ and provide them the amount.” He wants it to be a very simple and direct process to provide the water to those who so desperately need it. He wants the process to be viewable by anyone and everyone, too. He said WAB will put GPS markers on every area where the wells are built, making it easier for people to follow the group’s progress over time through the Web site. Maybe there will even be some video footage of the building process as well.

Another part of the “open” policy extends to who they associate with and how they handle money. They want to be sure everything they do and everyone they work with is completely dedicated to the goal of giving everyone clean, safe water. “Our books are going to be open. We want our organization very visible and open. We will be very careful about who we deal with.”

Lilly & Co. want What About Blue? to be reputable and approachable, but most of all, successful. Be sure to visit www.whataboutblue.org to see photos, videos, and how you can become a WAB ambassador.