A few years ago, Leon McLaughlin was traveling through Mexico, and met a woman who told him about a previous American visitor. The visitor had drained her bathtub of standing water, thinking he was doing her a favor.

Instead, the woman cried. It turned out that was her water supply for a month. Gone down the drain.

The incident brought home to McLaughlin how vital safe, clean water is to people's lives - and how easily it is to take it for granted. But McLaughlin wasn't going to take it for granted.

He had an idea that could bring life-sustaining water to the woman in Mexico and millions around the world for mere pennies a gallon.

It is a fascinating journey of one person's determination to make a difference.

McLaughlin, a Cleveland native, arrived in Seattle three decades ago. He worked as the staff adviser at the Paramount Theatre until the early-1990s, then landing at the Seattle Repertory Theater and investing a bit in real estate. By the mid-1990s, McLaughlin had another idea - selling coffee-making equipment in Canada.

The coffee business and McLaughlin's global travels got him interested in one of the key ingredients - safe, clean water. McLaughlin was struck by how much of the world didn't have reliable supply of safe water, whether for drinking, cooking, or even brewing coffee.

He started researching the issue, taking online courses from Sacramento State University in California to get a degree in water management. From there, he created his own company, LAM, LLC, (the name drawn from McLaughlin's initials) to deliver water to developing countries and areas hit by natural disasters such as floods or hurricanes.

All along, McLaughlin did a variety of things to generate income. He ushered nights at the Rep. He sold real estate. And he shined shoes at the Columbia Tower. In fact, his shine stand functioned as both a convenient meeting place for all kinds of informal advisers and the de facto world HQ for LAM, LLC. In 2008, McLaughlin founded the Clean Water Foundation, a non-profit corporation.

McLaughlin came up with an approach elegant in its simplicity. Like a child's Lego ® set, McLaughlin envisioned a water purification system that could be snapped together like the plastic blocks, not dependent upon written instructions, that could be assembled and put into operations anywhere in the world. He identified US manufacturers of purification equipment, piping, water bags for storage, even individual containers so children could get fresh, clean water at a school or hospital and take it back to their families.

It was a powerful idea, but McLaughlin knew he couldn't pull it off by himself. He needed a partner with truly global reach. He found just such a partner only a few miles down Interstate 5 from Seattle's World Vision, the highly regarded global humanitarian agency headquartered in Federal Way, Washington.

World Vision would provide the global distribution network McLaughlin needed to take his idea from the theoretical to the real. When flooding hit Bolivia, McLaughlin got to put his concept to the test. World Vision asked he could install six machines in Bolivia. McLaughlin delivered, pulling together the needed equipment, dispatching it to Bolivia, and making sure it was installed properly and turning out hundreds of gallons of safe, clean water for flood-stricken Bolivians.

Now McLaughlin and World Vision have a new mission. Their goal is to install 100 Water purification machines - a number of schools and hospitals around the world.

It will take a renewed effort by McLaughlin but anyone who knows this determined man with the infectious grin has no doubt he'll find a way to succeed.

Martha Childress DESSO Hospitality Carpet Manufactures Rep and Natural Choice Network Radio Host, Alternative Talk 1150AM Seattle Bellevue

Natural Choice Network is a show that explores the topics of sustainability, natural health, natural food, a healthy mind, and green resources. Host Martha Childress is committed to enhancing community, sustainability and health living in the region for future generations to come and will interview experts on various related topics.

22 years of experience in media, sales, marketing, account management and production management. My diversified business background has given me exposure to multiple industries and business environments. Focus on building strategic and collaborative relationships to create sustainable environments and to strengthen the community.

• Core relationships in hospitality Interiors, Green Resources, Natural Health, Natural Food/Nutrition and Mind/Spirit connections.

• In depth knowledge and key relationships in the architectural, interior design and commercial building community.

• Strong presentation, integration and negotiation skills.
• Clear concise writing skills.

Author, social critic, and political activist Naomi Wolf raises awareness of the pervasive inequities that exist in society and politics. She encourages people to take charge of their lives, voice their concerns and enact change.

Wolf’s landmark international bestseller, The Beauty Myth, challenged the cosmetics industry and the marketing of unrealistic standards of beauty, launching a new wave of feminism in the early 1990s. The New York Times called it one of the most important books of the 20th century. Her next book, Vagina: A Cultural History, will be released in 2012.

Wolf’s New York Times bestseller, The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, is an impassioned call to return to the aspirations and beliefs of the Founders’ ideals of liberty. The New York Times called the documentary version “pointedly inflammatory.” Her latest book, Give Me Liberty: A Handbook For American Revolutionaries, includes effective tools for citizens to promote civic engagement and create sustainable democracy.

Her international journalism includes the investigative report “Guantánamo Bay: The Inside Story” for The Times of London, and as a columnist for Project Syndicate her articles have been published in India, Philippines, Egypt, and Lebanon. She’s a frequent blogger on The Huffington Post and writes cultural commentary for The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Harper’s Bazaar. Her TV appearances include Larry King Live, Meet the Press, The Joyce Behar Show, and The Colbert Report.

A graduate of Yale and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, Wolf was a consultant to Al Gore during his presidential campaign on women’s issues and social policy. She is co-founder of The Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership, an organization that teaches leadership to young women, and The American Freedom Campaign, a grass roots democracy movement in the United States whose mission is the defense of the Constitution and the rule of law.