Stella Buys A Lady a Drink… and Water for Others

This week, DC’s social set gathered at the residence of His Excellency Dirk Wouters, the Ambassador of Belgium, to Buy A Lady A Drink — or have a few bought for them.

The campaign, a partnership between Stella Artois and Water.org, is actually a charitable endeavor that that aims to raise awareness of the global water crisis.

Guests at the reception, which highlighted the work of the Buy a Lady a Drink initiative, dined on Belgian specialities such as hand cut fries, white asparagus, chicken croquettes, lobster rolls, smoked fish, oysters and, of course, drank Stella Artois served in the brand’s iconic chalice. The purchase of each limited-edition Stella Artois Chalice provides five years of clean water for someone in the developing world.

Notable attendees, including the Ambassador’s wife, Mrs. Katrin Wouters, Water.org’s Julie LaGuardia and Katcef Companies’ Neal Katcef helped educate guests about the global water crisis, while also explaining how local distributor Capital Eagle is helping to contribute to the cause.

“The global water crisis today affects around 663 million people all around the world, and that is why I’m especially humbled but also determined to partner with Capital Eagle, Stella Artois and Water.org to bring awareness to the global issue,” said His Excellency Wouters. “I’m very pleased to see the community of Washington, DC has come out strongly and in such an impactful way.”

“We joined forces with Stella Artois three years ago, and this was the first partnership of its kind with Water.org, and this turned out to be one of the most impactful and globally recognized initiatives of the organization,” said LaGuardia. “The most challenging thing is to get people to care about our cause — and not just care about it, but actually turn out and do something about it. Everyone in this room is a testament to our success with Water.org.”

“Across the globe, hundreds of millions of people lack access to clean water. In emerging nations, women spend a combined 200 million hours a day collecting water,” said Katcef. “Valuable time they would be spending with their family or generating income for their households. I’m very passionate about this cause and have pledged to help Stella Artois sell 10% of their committed 200,000 chalices by 2020.”

The Buy A Lady A Drink campaign, co-founded by Water.org’s Matt Damon and Gary White, alongside Stella Artois, first launched in 2015, leveraging Stella Artois’ global footprint to raise awareness and spark consumer action to address the critical water crisis issue. This year, the brand announced a four-year commitment with Water.org to help provide 3.5 million people with long-term, sustainable access to clean water by 2020.