One Drop is an international non-profit organization based in Montreal, created in 2007 by
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...
founder
Guy Laliberté
Guy Laliberté, (born 2 September 1959) is a Canadian billionaire businessman and poker player. Along with Gilles Ste-Croix, he is the co-founder of Cirque du Soleil, which was founded in 1984. The Canadian circus company's shows have since be ...
, which is focused on water initiatives.
Arts and culture
One Drop uses circus arts, folklore, popular theatre, music, dance and visual arts to raise awareness of water-related issues.
Projects
One Drop has projects in Latin America, India, Canada and Africa.
Awards and recognition
One Drop has received the following recognition:
* 2019 Top 10 International Impact Charities as recognized by Charity Intelligence.
* 2015 "Water for Life
UN-WaterBest Wate
Best Practices Awardin the category “Best participatory, communication, awareness-raising and education practices”
International Water AssociationProject Innovation Award
in the Development category.
Donations
Guy Laliberté has pledged to donate C$100 million to the organization over 25 years.[''Annual Report 2009'', ONE DROP]
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In its 2012 Annual Report, One Drop reported raising nearly $52 million over the previous five years. Funds were allocated to programs designed to provide permanent safe water to over 340,000 people.[''Annual Report 2012'', ONE DROP]
/ref>
Poker
In 2011, Laliberté teamed with Caesars Entertainment
Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada, that operates more than 50 properties. Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corpora ...
, owner of the World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada, and since 2004, sponsored by Eldorado Resorts, Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best ...
(WSOP), to launch the Big One for One Drop
The Big One for One Drop is a $1,000,000 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold 'em poker tournament hosted first in 2012, and for its first four editions, with the World Series of Poker (WSOP). It became the highest buy-in poker tournament in history as wel ...
, a $1-million buy-in poker tournament
A poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table (called a " heads-up" tournament), and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tabl ...
to benefit the organization. The Big One and other charity tournaments would be held within the larger WSOP series of tournaments held each summer in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. In early 2023, the One Drop Foundation entered into
new partnership
with the World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the ...
to host charity poker tournaments in Las Vegas and across the world, with a portion of each player’s buy-in going to the One Drop Foundation.
References
External links
One Drop's official website
Cirque du Soleil One Drop's page
UN Water official website
UN Water (UNDESA) website
International Water Association website
International Water Association Award website
World Poker Tour press release
World Poker Tour's official website
{{Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil
Organizations based in Montreal
Organizations established in 2007