The role of meetings in Wine toWater’s mission: “Since the beginning I have always thought of meetings and conventions as playing a vital role in our organiza- tion. It is one of the best platforms to not only tell people about the work we are doing and how we are trying to fight this world’s water crisis in a unique and sustainable way, but to also build relationships with other folks out there who are just as passionate and trying just as hard as us to make an impact on the world around them.”
The importance of face-to- face interaction: “Maybe it is the bartender in me, but there is absolutely nothing that will ever replace a firm handshake, a look in the eye, and a good conversation. In my line of work espe- cially, I have to prove to people that I am sincere and that I am doing the work that I say I am doing. This is
something that isn’t very difficult for me to do when I am hanging out with someone face-to-face, but it gets more and more difficult the further away I get from personal interaction.”
What he communicates as a speaker: “The most impor- tant thing that I desperately want people to know is that no matter how regular or aver- age you are, and no matter what you do or don’t do for a living, you can have a huge impact on the world around you just by using the tools and resources at your disposal. I am walking [proof] of that. And instead of just telling people
my story and trying to motivate them to have their own impact in their own way, I like to give people practical advice that helped me make the transition from bar- tender to president of a successful aid organization.”
struck last January, Hendley and his team began distributing water-filtration systems. “Then, after a while,” Hendley said of Haiti, “we went
back to our normal method of…teaching these people how to do it [themselves]. So, we built a factory in Haiti that’s going to be run by locals, having them build their own water filters and getting them out to their own people.” Presently,Wine toWater is a four-person
operation whose primary source of funding remains those wine events—although the organization doesn’t actually put on many of them itself these days. Rather, Hendley said, “it’s just people who have heard about us and love what we’re doing that changed their monthly book club [as one example] into a Wine toWater night.” And what about the restlessness that once
kept Hendley up at night, and drove him all over the United States and the world? “Now, I’m married, I have two kids, [and] I love calling Boone, North Carolina, home,” Hendley said. “I love the work that I’m doing, and I can’t ever see myself stopping— unless, all of a sudden, we defeat the water crisis one day and then I can move to some- thing else.” Hendley continued, in his quick,
passionate way: “My restlessness now is actually within water, and I’m moving and constantly changing directions and angles, trying to figure out better and different ways to reach people… and tell the story or to figure out different fixes that could be a little more sustainable.”