UU Church West’s “Split the Plate” program is one of outreach and generosity. Each month we give half of all undesignated offerings to a non-profit organization, to help us live out our Unitarian Universalist values and serve our community.
Our Split the Plate partner for September is Community Water Services (CWS). CWS is a Milwaukee-based non-profit focused on ensuring that all residents have access to clean drinking water in their homes.
Milwaukee has over 70,000 “laterals”—the pipes connecting water mains to homes—that need to be replaced. This will take years, even as more funding is now available to do the work. In the meantime, children in Milwaukee continue to be exposed to lead and other contaminants from the laterals AND from lead pipes in old homes. CWS’s mission is to support the replacement of these pipes during renovations and to install whole-home water filtration systems to remove lead and other contaminants. They focus their efforts on the most at-risk neighborhoods. CWS works with local contractors to do the work, and with local students to collect water samples for ongoing testing. They are currently fundraising to support doing this work in more homes, and after proving the business model, become a for-profit organization.
To learn more, visit their website: Community Water Services | Affordable whole-house water filtration system to reduce lead and contaminants
To support CSW any time this month, go to the UUCW website’s “Donate” tab and select “Split the Plate” from the menu provided or mail your donation to UUCW, 13001 W. North Ave., Brookfield WI 53005-5219 For more information about Split the Plate, contact Kathy Herrewig.
