Numi Tea Celebrates World Water Day With Expansion of Together for H2OPE Initiative to Bring Clean, Safe Drinking Water to Indian Tea Farmers

/EINPresswire.com/ -- OAKLAND, CA--(Marketwired - March 22, 2017) - Numi Organic Tea, a leading purveyor of premium organic, Fair Trade Certified teas, announces in conjunction with the U.N.'s World Water Day the expansion of Together for H2OPE, an initiative to bring clean, safe drinking water to India's largest Fair Trade farming community, located in Assam. Earlier this year, the expansion was piloted in one of twelve villages on the Tonganagaon Tea Estate, and is now being scaled across the remaining villages to 6,500 residents in total. The expansion is focused on water sanitation, hygiene education and infrastructure. This estate is where Numi sources ingredients for its Breakfast Blend, Aged Earl Grey™, Golden Chai and Chinese Breakfast™ teas.

Currently, the majority of the households on the Tonganagaon Tea Estate suffer from waterborne illnesses annually, due to water contaminated with E.coli and iron. In partnership with local farmers and Women's Earth Alliance, a global nonprofit with experience in community-led safe water projects around the world, Numi is working with villagers, the District Public Health Department and local NGOs to change that for future generations. The expansion's efforts include on-the-ground engineering, construction, education and behavior change.

"By this time next year, every person living at the Tonganagaon Tea Estate will have access to clean, safe drinking water for the rest of their lives," said Ahmed Rahim, Numi's CEO and Co-founder. "Our farmers told us that access to clean drinking water is their greatest need, so we're partnering with them on Together for H2OPE to help deliver a safe, dependable and sustainable solution."

With its first initiative, Together for H2OPE: Madagascar, the Numi Foundation partnered with farmers to help bring clean water to over 4,000 people across 12 villages in Madagascar -- the farming community that supplies the key ingredient (turmeric root) for Numi's best-selling Turmeric teas and Turmeric Golden Latte™ mixes. Thanks to 23 new wells, matched with educational programs, multiple generations of villagers are experiencing the life-changing transformation that comes with access to clean water.

To date, the Numi Foundation has raised over $171,000 of their $300,000 budget for the Assam, India expansion, thanks to generous contributions from private foundations, supply chain and retail partners. The project's first donor was the local farming cooperative in Assam, which funded one of the wells that will serve their community. Since Numi began purchasing Assam black tea many years ago, they have contributed $750,000 worth of Fair Trade funds to the Tonganagaon Tea Estate.

Purchases of all Numi products help fund Together for H2OPE. Numi premium organic teas are available for purchase nationwide at various retail locations in addition to many natural product stores and online at Numitea.com and Amazon.

NUMI ORGANIC TEA
Founded in 1999 by brother and sister team Ahmed Rahim (the alchemist) and Reem Rahim (the artist), Numi Organic Tea is a purveyor of premium quality organic, non-GMO and Fair Trade Certified teas and herbal teasans. Numi blends its organic leaf teas with only real herbs, fruits, flowers and spices -- not unnecessary "natural" flavorings or perfumes. All Numi products are packaged in recycled-content containers and non-GMO verified biodegradable bags and are available in retail outlets in more than 50 countries worldwide, including the U.S., Canada, the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands and online at NumiTea.com. An award-winning social enterprise and founding B Corporation member, Numi supports community development projects worldwide. To learn more, visit NumiTea.com and follow Numi at Facebook.com/NumiTea, Instagram.com/NumiOrganicTea, Twitter.com/NumiTea and Pinterest.com/Numitea.

NUMI FOUNDATION
Numi Foundation's mission is to nurture and empower thriving communities. We envision a world where all basic human needs are met and people have the resources to fulfill their greatest potential. Globally, we provide our organic, fair trade farming communities with access to clean, safe drinking water. And in our backyard of Oakland, California we offer experiential gardening, arts and social studies curricula to low-income K-8 public schools. Numi Foundation is fiscally sponsored by Earth Island Institute, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Berkeley, CA. www.NumiFoundation.org.

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