DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. — After three years as a member of the Water Quality Association (WQA) and working at the grassroots level with its members, the Wishing Well International Foundation (WWIF) received official endorsement from the Association, according to a press release.
The announcement was made during the board of governors meeting held during WQA Aquatech in Orlando, Fla., noted the release, and will bring additional credibility to the Foundation that will help in conversations with current and prospective sponsors.
This is the first endorsement of its kind after criteria for endorsement of other non-profits was developed by the Association over the last 12 months, continued the release, including, but not limited to, 501(c)(3) status for a minimum of three years, WQA membership in good standing by the directors of the non-profit to be endorsed, mission statement that includes water filtration or purification as its main activity and financial transparency.
“We have worked very hard to acquire this endorsement and we are very happy with the timing. It took Association leaders with vision to make this happen and we are very grateful to Dave Haataja, WQA Executive Director and CEO, and Richard Mest, WQA Past President, as they were instrumental in developing the criteria that would allow the Association to endorse the Foundation. A heartfelt thank you to the Board of Governors, the Board of Directors and everyone else that supported us and believed in our mission. We are very proud of this accomplishment for both organizations and we will continue to work with Association leaders to figure out how to best leverage the relationship with the goal of impacting more people in need of clean, safe drinking water. Our goal has always been to make this effort an industry effort and we are now closer to our goal,” said Guillermo Guzman, CEO and founder of WWIF.