Resident Brad Reed Leads Water Missions Intl’s Relief Efforts in Haiti & Beyond

Brad participating in a Water Treatment System installation in Peru.

Brad Reed was living in the Charlotte, N.C. area with his wife and two sons when circumstances surrounding his corporate job as a senior executive at a global manufacturing company caused a series of events that significantly changed the course of his life and his career.

“Our company was purchased in 2005, and as things began to change within the organization, I realized that I, too, was ready for a change,” he explains. But when a lucrative job offer in Canada came through within two weeks of leaving his former company – a job and location that seemed to be a perfect fit for him and his family – something caused him to pause and think twice about what he was about to do.

“It didn’t have peace about the job opportunity, and I couldn’t put my finger on why. It took several months of soul-searching and prayers for me to realize that what I was looking for was an opportunity to apply my management experience and Christian faith to help lead a church or nonprofit ministry,” says Brad.

So when he was introduced to the work of Charleston-based Water Missions International (WMI) – a Christian, nonprofit engineering organization that provides clean, safe water to people in developing countries and disaster areas through a variety of technologies – and learned they were looking for someone to help run their organization, he knew he had found his calling.

“My educational background is in chemical engineering and I had been actively involved in ministry and church leadership for years,” Brad explains. “A Christian engineering organization was a perfect fit.”

Children in Peru getting a taste of fresh, safe water, thanks to the work of Water Missions International.

Brad began leading WMI as President and Chief Operating Officer in 2006, and his wife, Debbie, began researching where in Charleston they would relocate their family.

“I moved ahead of our family so our son could finish the first semester of his seventh grade school year. One day my wife called and said, ‘Start looking on Daniel Island – that’s where we need to be.’” Shortly thereafter, the family purchased a new home in the island’s Center Park neighborhood. “The schools and casual lifestyle were the main draw for us,” he says.

The family quickly settled into their new home, and their youngest son enrolled in the Daniel Island School. Brad joined the Daniel Island Rotary Club. “Integrating into the community here was easy,” he says. “There are so many ways to get involved.”

When the devastating earthquake struck Haiti last month, WMI was quick to respond, and the Daniel Island community was quick to provide support. Island-based fundraising efforts raised more than $17,000, enough to send an additional Living Water™ Treatment System (LWTS) to Haiti (since the disaster, WMI has sent more than ten LWTSs to Haiti each week). The Daniel Island Rotary Club mobilized to organize “A Sip of Daniel Island,” a fundraising event scheduled for March 3. DI Rotary is also partnering with the Charleston Lunch Rotary Club to fund and implement a safe water project serving six needy communities and approximately 10,000 people in Iquitos, Peru in April.

“While our disaster response in Haiti is making news these days, community development projects in places like Iquitos, Peru continue to be implemented in order provide sustainable access to safe water to communities in daily need,” says Brad. “It’s a life-long mission, and the support of the Daniel Island community has been a blessing.”

To learn more about the incredible work of Water Missions International, and how you can help people throughout the world in need of safe water, visit www.watermissions.org.