Doc Hendley never set out to be a hero.
In 2004, Hendley — a small town bartender — launched a series of wine-tasting events to raise funds for clean water projects and to bring awareness to the world's water crisis. Suddenly this rough-and-tumble guy found himself working in Darfur, Sudan — one of the most dangerous places in the world — and eventually went on to lead Wine To Water from a dream to a reality.
Doc’s gripping story is about braving tribal warfare and natural disasters to encountering fascinating characters in far-flung regions of the world. It is also an authoritative account of a global crisis and an inspirational tale that proves how ordinary people and simple actions can improve the world.
During this session, attendees not only enjoyed from Doc but also had the opportunity to participate in the integrated W|W Filter Build® Experience! From the networking breakfast to a fully integrated, CSR experience woven into the high-energy, 90-minute immersive keynote address, attendees left refueled to the max with inspiration, deepened relationships and the knowledge that they made a direct and positive impact on the world. Learn more about the Closing Experience.
Doc Hendley is proof that anyone, even a tattooed keg-tapper, can cure what ails the world.
In 2003, Doc Hendley dreamed up the concept of Wine to Water while bartending and playing music in nightclubs around Raleigh, North Carolina. In January of 2004, he held his first fundraiser and by August was living in Darfur, Sudan installing water systems for victims of the government-supported genocide.
When Doc returned home in 2005, the haunting memories of what he had seen in Darfur drove him to continue growing the organization he had started only two years earlier. And in 2007, after working two jobs and volunteering his time for over three years, Wine To Water became an official 501 (c)(3) and Doc’s dream finally became a reality.
Hendley’s work aims to help the 1.1 billion people worldwide who lack access to clean water, a figure estimated by the World Health Organization. Nearly two-thirds of that group lives in Asia. In sub-Saharan Africa, 42 percent of the population lives without yard taps, household connections or other improvements to sanitize water. Unclean water is the number one killer of children in the world. Water borne illnesses kill far more children the HIV/AIDS and Malaria combined. Every 15 seconds a child dies from unclean water.
Doc Hendley was named one of the Top 10 CNN Heroes for 2009 (chosen by a panel of judges including Gen. Colin Powell, Whoopi Goldberg, Ted Turner and Sir Elton John).
His book, Wine to Water: A Bartender's Quest to Bring Clean Water to the World (Avery: Penguin, Jan 2012), is a captivating story of an ordinary bartender who's changing the world through clean water.