Focus on WASH at Levi's Community Day

John Etgen, senior VP of the Project Wet Foundation was in Cape Town recently and trained 34 Levi's employees to be Water Ambassadors. These Water Ambassadors in turn trained fellow employees. The aim is that all Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co) employees will experience this training by the year 2020. This training will be shared with communities in other projects during the year.

The Project Wet Foundation offers water resource education to enable adults and children to understand and value water and ensure a sustainable future. Project Wet aims to arm LS&Co employees with the tools and resources to teach youth in their local communities about the importance of water conservation and WASH (water, access, sanitation and hygiene) in a meaningful and engaging way.

Objectives of Community Day and Project Wet this year include:

• Increasing awareness around the social and environmental impacts of apparel and encouraging action.
  
• Educating employees and young people about the impact their clothing has on the planet and how to change daily behaviour in an effort to properly save water.
  
• Integrating WASH topics into trainings and teachings in the Levi's supply chain communities and relevant countries, emphasising the importance of proper sanitation and hygiene.
  
• Reinforce LS&Co’s legacy of giving back and showcase how its employees engage with the communities where it has a business presence.

The Levi Strauss Foundation began investing in communities in South Africa in 1995 and has provided almost $5m in grants to more than 100 non-profit organisations that support workers and the community in South Africa. This year, Clean C benefited from a grant in Cape Town and the Tomorrow Trust is the beneficiary in the Gauteng region for the Community Day event.