News Release
Reusable Water Bottle Giveaway at Penn Elementary School Highlights Expansion of Rob Machado Partnership with San Diego Unified
Drone and ground video of the event and sound from Rob Machado can be found at this link.
Photos of the event can be found here.
April 25, 2023
SAN DIEGO - Reusable water bottles are now in the hands of 20,000 more students across San Diego.
Made possible through the Rob Machado Foundation, the reusable bottles went to San Diego Unified School District students at 50 schools. The foundation also donated 500 reusable water bottles to Chavez Elementary students in April 2022 to encourage students to drink more water and cut plastic pollution from local landfills, waterways, and the ocean.
On Friday, students at Penn Elementary School received surprise water bottles from the foundation during Penn’s annual jogathon. The water bottles follow the school district’s completion of hydration stations at the Bay Terraces campus.
“We are a proud supporter of the San Diego Unified clean water program,” said Rob Machado, Founder of the Rob Machado Foundation. “Making a pledge to put a reusable water bottle into the hands of every student is a big commitment for the foundation and we are honored to deepen our support for students.”
As a result of a six-year-long district initiative to provide clean drinking water to all students, the high-quality filtered hydration stations replace old, unfiltered, drinking water outlets at all San Diego Unified schools.
“With filtered water bottle filling stations at all schools and reusable water bottles in the hands of 20,000 students, access to clean water has never been better at San Diego Unified,” said Dr. Sharon Whitehurst-Payne, Board of Education Trustee for San Diego Unified. “I am grateful to the Rob Machado Foundation for supporting student health and the broader environment.”
Supported by the facilities bond program, San Diego Unified set a public health goal of water with lead content below one part per billion (ppb) and an action level of 5 ppb - three times the federal standard - through the use of filtered systems.
While all San Diego Unified schools have received temporary filtered water bottle fillers, construction continues on the installation of additional permanent filtered hydration stations and the removal of all unfiltered drinking water outlets districtwide. The district is prioritizing schools with the youngest students first.
Construction is complete at 49 schools and ongoing at another 33. Construction districtwide is expected to be complete by the end of 2024. The Rob Machado Foundation plans to donate an additional 25,000 reusable water bottles to students with the goal of eventually reaching every San Diego Unified student
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Samer Naji, Facilities Communications Supervisor, 619-548-3388, snaji@sandi.net.
Jamie Ries, Information Services Specialist, San Diego Unified, 619-855-9283, jries@sandi.net.
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