James Pickard & Bob Lasher

August 1, 2021August 13, 2021 bftlifestyle 1416 Views

Beaufort duo making a splash with Walk for Water

story by JEANNE REYNOLDS photos by PAUL NURNBERG

When a retired oil and gas industry geophysicist and the founder of a web-based software company collide, you never know what might bubble up.

In this case, it’s water.

James Pickard, the former geophysicist, and Bob Lasher, the retired tech company CEO, met five years ago over a shared passion for water — more specifically, the work of Charleston-based Water Mission to build safe water and sanitation solutions in developing countries and for disaster relief. Now, the two are the driving force behind the fifth annual Beaufort County Walk for Water set for Saturday, Oct. 9.

“We’re a water town,” says Lasher, who has co-chaired the Walk for Water committee for several years and leads the event’s sponsorship efforts this year. “Water is such a fundamental for us. We don’t even think about it — it’s everywhere, it’s part of our lifestyle. But a lot of people around the world are struggling to find safe, clean water.”

More than 2 billion people, in fact — many of them women and children who walk an average of three miles daily to collect water that’s often contaminated, leading to water-related illnesses that kill someone every 37 seconds, according to Water Mission.

“You can’t look at those statistics and not be motivated to do something,” says Pickard, this year’s chair after several years as co-chair. He first got involved as a volunteer assembling water filtration systems in Charleston, then jumped on board when several local churches decided to host a Walk for Water event in Beaufort in 2017. “This is something I can do. I feel like I’m actually doing something more than writing a check.”

Those checks matter, too, and they’ve added up to more than $200,000 in the first four years of Walk for Water’s success. The pandemic pushed last year’s walk from a large group event in Port Royal to smaller but simultaneous walks in neighborhoods across the county.

Organizers were surprised to find participants enjoyed that more intimate experience so much, it’s now the walk’s standard operating model. Teams are already forming in Battery Point, Cat Island, Callawassie Island/Spring Island, Cottage Farm, Dataw Island, Distant Island, Habersham, Oldfield, and Pigeon Point neighborhoods, as well as at Sea Island Presbyterian Church on Lady’s Island, Lowcountry Presbyterian Church in Bluffton, St. Mark’s Church in Port Royal, Providence Presbyterian in Hilton Head, and on Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority’s campus, with many others expected, according to Pickard. Participants can join any convenient host location or create their own on the walk’s website at www.walkforwater.com/beaufortco.

It’s not a stretch for area residents to understand the need for water, especially after disasters. “We know what it’s like to have a hurricane here and how critical water is,” Lasher points out.

And Walk for Water’s impact goes far beyond meeting critical needs for clean water, both men agree.
“Children spending the day collecting water can’t go to school because that’s what the family needs to survive,” Pickard says.

“When Water Mission goes into a community, the impact is generational,” Lasher adds. “They’re saving children’s lives, freeing up time for parents to earn a living and children’s educations.

“There’s something magical about the community coming together to do something that has such a big impact.”