Rooted in compassion and dignity, this mission offers a proven, practical, and replicable pathway to deliver safe water into the hands of vulnerable people in any community across Canada.
Replicating I Was Thirsty means starting the same outreach model in your own community: raising funds, recruiting volunteers, and delivering safe, bottled water directly into the hands of vulnerable or unhoused people where they live.
No. While I Was Thirsty began as a church-based initiative, the model can be led by any community group, service club, faith community, non-profit - even neighbourhood groups committed to dignity, compassion, and safe water.
When you connect with us, we provide a Replication Toolkit designed to help you start quickly and sustainably.
Your Toolkit Includes:
At minimum, you’ll need:
Please review our "Mission Statistics", and the mission blog found on the "About Us" page. The qualitative and quantitative data provides significant support for this mission.
**NB** Thunder Bay launched with a partnership with St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, three volunteers, and a budget of less than 250 dollars!
In just the first 40 days in Thunder Bay:
This is proof that small beginnings can create a big impact.
The cost depends on your scale. In Thunder Bay, the mission began with donations covering the purchase of bottled water and a volunteer driver who covered their own cost of fuel for deliveries. With $500–$1,000, you can launch a meaningful pilot in most cities.
We provide a volunteer safety and outreach guide that covers:
Yes, with preparation. Volunteers are required to work in pairs, use respectful communication, and carry water in manageable amounts. We provide a volunteer safety protocol and will help you adapt the model to your needs.
Generally, no. I Was Thirsty is community-based outreach and does not require special licensing. That said, we recommend making connections with local officials (the mayor, city council, MPP's and MP's), provide information to police, police services boards, public health, outreach teams, and other municipal services for coordination and support.
Every bottle of water is an act of respect, awareness, and reconciliation.
By replicating I Was Thirsty, your mission can:
This mission offers a proven, practical, and replicable pathway to deliver safe water into the hands of vulnerable people in any community across Canada. The mission is scalable - together, we can put safe water in the hands of vulnerable people from Thunder Bay to every corner of Canada.
You can turn this mission into a movement. Empower your community with a replicable model rooted in dignity, compassion and action.
Simply complete the form below with your name and email. We’ll reach out to provide the step-by-step toolkit and work with you and provide support to create a values backed, data driven practical operation.
We will provide you with a complete step by step process to reproduce the mission!
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.