Mission Statement
Drive For Water is a nonprofit faith-based organization that provides hope for those people around the world lacking the basic necessity of clean water by raising money through golf tournaments and other charity events with corporate sponsors to fund the installation of wells and water purification systems as well as to provide health and hygiene training to these communities so that benefits of clean water are realized and understood.
About Stephen Magliocco
My name is Stephen Magliocco and I created Drive For Water. I am a native of Southern California where I live with my wife Kourtney and our two young sons. Growing up with a father who was involved in a variety of charities, I was provided with a role model who instilled a desire within me to help those in need. Losing my dad to cancer when I was only twenty-one years old left me searching for a greater purpose in this life at a very young age.
After meeting my wife and starting a family, we continued to seek out this purpose and eventually made contact with Larry and Carolyn McBride, the coordinators of the Clean Water Initiative at our church Saddleback, Lake Forest. My wife saw an exhibit one Sunday afternoon of a water purification system and asked how she could get involved with this initiative. Being a nurse she has long dreamed of traveling to third world countries and using her nursing skills to volunteer in health care clinics.
These water purification systems could be installed in clinics such as these to provide clean water for the sick and CWI was sending teams to places like Rwanda to do just that. Knowing that we could not go on a mission trip of that magnitude at this point in our lives with two young boys at home, we decided to donate the money needed to install one of these purification systems. We attended a monthly meeting for CWI on our church campus and were excited by all they were doing.
By remaining in contact with Carolyn and Larry, I was given the privilege to become a member of the board of directors for a new branch of CWI that they created called No Thirsty Child. This organization would focus on creating awareness about the lack of clean water around the world in groups outside of the church arena. Working with them for a short time I quickly realized that No Thirsty Child had no real revenue generators other than the periodic donations of odd sponsors. So with prayer, thought, counsel and my core belief that the Lord never told us to think small…Drive For Water was born.
This is a time of economic hardship and Drive For Water will be competing with many other more established charities. Nonetheless, the need is real and our organizational conviction is strong. I take comfort that the Lord will lead me in this purpose, and I am thankful for the amazing people I have met that are taking part in our purposed calling.
