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Our Wine To Water Story

Wine To Water
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Water is just the beginning…

In 2009, as part of the organizing committee and founding board of directors for SITE Southeast and in search of a philanthropy our chapter could support, Carol and her fellow board members “stumbled upon” Wine To Water, a fledgling organization based in Boone, North Carolina, whose mission was to help solve the world’s water crisis in innovative ways. They had been looking for a Southern based organization with global outreach, and one that somehow related to the hospitality industry.

Once they met Wine to Water founder Doc Hendley, with his powerful and moving personal story, they were inspired to make a long term and ambitious commitment to raising both awareness and funds for his growing organization.

Within a matter of months, it seemed the world had also discovered Doc’s work and story, through his nomination to the CNN “HEROS” program, where he ultimately became a finalist, appearing on the nationally televised HEROS awards show.

Shortly thereafter, a massively destructive earthquake struck in Haiti, and Doc, accompanied CNN’s Anderson Cooper, traveled there to assess the island’s needs and find some solutions. The result of that trip was the discovery of a ceramics factory on the Dominican Republic side of the island which became a production facility for an inexpensive and highly effective ceramic water filter - a Wine To Water initiative that continues to thrive and provide inexpensive, long term solutions to families in these vulnerable islands.

Founder of W|W Doc Hendley would like to thank you for your involvement! Hear the impact directly from Tanzania.

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Doc Hendley and Carol Owen

Turning passion into purpose…

As SITE Southeast’s annual “Southern Supper” fundraiser became an important annual resource for the Wine To Water community’s efforts, Retreats Resources expanded the same fundraising concept of leveraging our relationships with our hospitality industry partners by asking them to offer hotels stays and experiences for auction to the event professionals who attend our roadshows and events.

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We pledged to dedicate all our events to raise money for Wine To Water. In 2024 we raised more than $128,000!
A man carries several orange buckets and supplies past stacks of bottled water outside a building, while others work in the background.

In 2024, category 4 Hurricane Helene swept through Western North Carolina, leaving destruction in its wake. Over a thousand bridges and rivers were destroyed, homes flooded or were swept away, and the full impact in the region is still unknown.

Wine To Water worked tirelessly to help to thousands of people get water, hygiene and baby items, hot meals, generators, and other essential supplies. Their incredible crews went by raft and ATVs to reach remote, hard-hit areas while volunteers in Asheville filled 5 gallon containers with water by the tanker load in public housing and urban neighborhoods for weeks on end. They worked with the River Keepers to assist in vital shoreline cleanup and got boots dirty removing debris from local homes. 

We can all make a difference, using the gifts and resources we have!

Wine To Water logo

By employing our resources within the hospitality industry community to alleviate suffering around the world in vulnerable populations, we also discovered the impact to our fragile planet of all those plastic water bottles that have previously been part of the disaster relief solution.

We have learned that one water filter in a disaster relief effort can prevent the use of 50,000 plastic bottles.

This helps meet our planet’s environmental challenges as well as our social and economic ones, and we are proud and honored to be considered “founding partners” of this impactful organization!

What We Hear From You

“Carol, just think how one person can change the world. That’s you! You have made the hospitality industry better by not compromising what it stands for and how you run your company and express life.”

— Randy M, World’s Finest Meetings

    Make an impact in our world!

    Two young children stand outside with trees behind them, catching and playing with water flowing from a faucet, smiling and laughing.
    At a Wine To Water filter build, a woman holding a clear bag stands beside a promotional banner promoting clean water and sanitation for those in need globally.
    Two people stand by a door while numerous brown paper bags filled with groceries and supplies cover the floor of a warehouse.
    A person fills a plastic bottle with water using a Sawyer water filter, while three people watch in the background.
    A person wearing a cap and orange shirt sits on a truck tailgate, holding a blue hose with water flowing into a blue bucket.
    Several people sort and organize canned goods and boxed food items on a table, volunteering with Wine To Water.
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    There is a place for you here…

    Wine To Water has opened a space for businesses both large and small to make in impact in our world with their Impact Partner Program - through filter-build team building activities, their wine gifting and event programs, their volunteer trip opportunities, their monthly giving program called The Tap, and more!

    For more information or to find your own place in the Wine To Water family, please contact Tina Owen, VP of Business Development at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

    More about Wine To Water and Doc Hendley…

    Doc Hendley CNN Hero of the Year Finalist

    More about Doc and the Wine To Water story
    Watch Video

    Extraordinarily Ordinary TEDx Talk

    Doc Hendley's premier on the TEDx Stage at Asheville, NC
    Watch Video
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