Sabina Makes A Difference One Drop At A Time

Toledo, Ohio-based supplier Sabina (UPIC: SABINA) has created a water bottle program that allows companies and organizations to donate one Hydraid® BioSand Water Filter to a family in Africa with every 288 Aquapuree water bottles purchased. A removable sticker on the bottom of each bottle explains the program to recipients. The program was introduced at last week’s PPAI Expo.

SabinaWater.org began with a simple question: how can we make a difference and bring clean water to those who need it? Sabina President Clif Perryman explains that it’s a purchasing decision that can help change lives.

“We are a company that is operated in a servant leadership model that makes us open to the needs of others and this a natural outreach for us,” he says. “Our goal is to enlighten our marketplace to the needs of the world and their ability to serve those needs in a small way. We don’t have a particular goal of creating sales of a certain amount or pieces. If we save one family, that’s fabulous. Our desire is for this to grow and be populated by other manufacturers with other product offerings that would interest a broader marketplace. If this [type of program] is exclusive to Sabina, that’s not what we want to happen.”

More than 2.2 million people die each year from drinking unsafe water. The Hydraid® BioSand Water Filter is a portable filtration system that can provide clean water for a family of 8-10 people for a decade. There is very little maintenance and no parts that wear out. Whether water comes from a shallow well, a river or even a pond, the Hydraid filter can make the water safe to drink. Sabina is working with the U.S. Navy to deliver the water filters to various locations in Africa. Depending on the number of bottle orders received, Perryman expects to be able to deliver the first filters this spring.

Distributor reaction to the program during The Expo was tremendous says senior vice president sales and marketing Stan Breckenridge, MAS. “Lots of people were coming over to see it and asking us to explain it,” he says.

Each 700ml Aquapuree bottle is made from high density BPA Free TRITAN that won’t absorb flavors or odors and is available in red, orange, blue or green trim to match corporate colors.