About Us & Contacts
11% of the world’s population lack access to clean drinking water. Wood for Water is an organization devoted to raising funds to build wells or find other means to provide a source of clean drinking water to people lacking access. With your help, men, women and children can have clean, disease-free water to drink. Children, women and men you’ll never meet will thank you for your thoughtfulness. With access to drinking water, children are free to attend school and women can work to improve the lives of their families.
We are grateful for your donation of any amount at any time.
Who is Wood for Water?
Charlot Barker, Founder, CEO & Woodworker, Charlot@WoodforWater.org
Board of Directors President, Stephen W. Figgatt
Board of Directors Member, Kyle B. Figgatt
Elyse C. Barker, Social Media & Communications Manager
Jack Perme, Woodworking Designer, Jack@WoodforWater.org
Thanks to the many friends who have encouraged, advised, promoted and in so many ways supported Wood for Water.
Our History
The idea for Wood for Water began in 2016 by an epidemiologist who was working at the New York State Department of Public Health specializing in waterborne illnesses as part of her fellowship with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Out of a growing concern for people without access to drinking water and knowing first-hand through her research the illnesses that result when drinking tainted water, she wanted to take action. She passed the baton her mother, Charlot, an Information Technology manager and woodworking hobbyist who in her travels and volunteer work had visited places where this basic need was not met. It was a dream until Charlot retired in 2019 and decided to make it one of the focuses of her post-retirement career, [her “Fifth Age” from As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII [All the world’s a stage ].
We started by crafting wooden items which friends, family and neighbors could purchase by making a donation at our special events. We’ve expanded to invite anyone to donate to support us, from any location. In 2022 we started displaying our Thank You gifts at Ginkgo Arts, an artists studio collective in West Chester, PA, and letting folks know about the scarcity of safe drinking water worldwide. We’ve held special events and given presentations at schools, a university, fairs, to Rotary groups, conferences and at my wood shop.
Our name, Wood for Water, is because we’d use wood to make clean water available to those in need.
Wood for Water is located in West Chester, Pennsylvania. We’re so grateful for your donations.
Charlot