The organization was founded by former North Carolina bartender, Doc Hendley. In January of 2004 the first fundraiser was held and by August of that same year Doc was living in Darfur, Sudan installing water systems for victims of the government supported genocide. From their website:

“When the idea came to me to start Wine To Water the only real world job experience I had was tending bar. I dreamed of building an organization that fought water related death and disease using completely different methods than anyone else. So I started raising money to fight this water epidemic the best way I knew how, by pouring wine and playing music.”

And so far, Wine to Water has made a huge difference throughout the world. Earlier this week, I received a message on Twitter from Doc that peaked my curiosity:

“Need a HUGE favor. We are 3 weeks away from the end of CNN Heroes. Please take 2 seconds, follow link & vote for Doc http://bit.ly/1J9CHo“

On November 26, for the third year in a row, CNN plans to honour the efforts of everyday people making a difference. Each of the top 10 CNN Heroes will receive an honorarium of $25,000, and the CNN Hero of the Year, making the biggest impact will receive an additional $100,000 in recognition of their efforts to better the world.

Through Cocktails and Cordials, I promise I won’t ever ask you to donate to me or the website, or any other cause for that matter, but I sincerely hope you will take the two minutes to recognize the extraordinary efforts of one of our own to make the world a better place. Doc Hendley is doing an amazing job, and I certainly count him among my own heroes. Please vote for him at:

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/vote/

For more information, or to find out how you can get involved, please visit:
http://winetowater.org/