Grant Application for
WATER IS LIFE FESTIVAL
Mission Statement:
The Water is Life Festival is a deeply-seated spiritual event, planned and executed by Indigenous women who are traditionally the great protectors of water. The festival hopes to engage women and men, girls and boys of all ages and all walks of life in understanding the sacredness of life and the importance of water in sustaining our lives. The festival achieves this through music, art and interactive activities and in so doing, celebrates our connection to the water and builds power through community towards stewardship of the Great Lakes. There are numerous women and girls that perform during the festival offering an example of power and confidence and models of protectors of water. The women and girls in the audience will be inspired to internalize and model the messages being delivered through the performer’s music, songs, prayers and dance.
Fiscal agent if applicant is not tax exempt:
Wagbo Peace Center
Tax ID Number:
38-3271968
Contact First Name:
Contact Last Name:
Wendy
Warren
Address:
5745 N M-66, East Jordan, MI 49727
Email:
Phone Number:
(207) 944-9303
Project Name:
Water is Life Festival
Project start and end dates:
June 15, 2026
September 15, 2026
Amount Requested:
$
3000
Project Description:
The Water is Life Festival is an annual family friendly event which utilizes music, dance, storytelling and interactive educational activities to bring people together to increase awareness of our reciprocal relationship with water. It is a unique festival that provides an entertainment and educational venue (free of charge) for folks to enjoy lakeside music, youth activities, paddling in a traditional indigenous canoe, local food and samples of pure artesian water. The festival honors women by highlighting the indigenous traditions which consider women as the powerful protectors of water. As such numerous indigenous women will perform and speak to raise awareness of the numerous challenges to pure water in our world today. All of the performers and demonstrations exemplify good stewardship that people can integrate into their daily lifeways (life paths). Many local women musicians and artists and audiences from throughout Michigan will be inspired by activities at this festival.
Goal of the Project
How many people will you reach?
1000
What percentage are female?
60
If your program serves both males and females, how will Hestia funds specifically target women and girls?
The women and girls in the audience of the festival will engage with the performers through dance lessons offered during the performances and they will be exposed to female performers (adults & children) that will serve as role models for compassion, confidence, artistic talent and sacred protectors of Mother Earth.
How are recipients identified or selected to receive services? Is financial need considered?
We are targeting this event to attendees from 0-99 years of age, of all races and religions free of charge. This is reflective in the eclectic music offered throughout the day. Adults and children will enjoy the Youth Activity Area which involves art and educational materials. People come from all over the state to learn from others, to connect with new ideas and to celebrate this amazing resource that Michiganders enjoy year-round. We believe water is a human right and everyone should have access to clean water.We hope to challenge people to support Mother Earth and work to protect her water from contamination and overuse.
What do you hope to achieve? What difference will this make in the lives of women and girls?
How will this project meet Hestia's mission statement?
The overarching goal we wish to achieve is to increase the general public’s appreciation towards water as a critical resource, not to be taken for granted, and to be protected. A secondary goal is to provide numerous role models for women and girls to become empowered to be leaders in protecting the environment or any important activism that is of interest. The festival will showcase women and girls in prominent positions as over half of the performers and speakers and organizers will be women. Some of the live bands and dance troupes are made up of only women. Indigenous tribes in Northern Michigan accorded the sacred responsibility to protect and care for water to the women of the tribes, and this tradition is being carried on through the Water is Life Festival. Through these role models, perhaps a new generation of protectors will emerge and carry on this sacred and critical mission.
How will you evaluate or measure your success:
The success of our festival will be documented in numbers and in responses by our audiences. If we increase the number of participants over previous years, we will consider that a win. If we observe and interview participants who respond with upbeat and affirmative feelings and a deepened understanding of water issues, we will consider our programs a success. When we observe women and girls enjoying and absorbing the empowered and artistic outpourings, then we will know we have achieved our goal of building new confidence in women and girls. We will manually count the number of attendees, and the number of visitors to each educational and activity area will be documented. Interest and support for the Water is Life Festival has grown every year since the inaugural year.
Grant Project Budget Form
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