Doc Hendley

Named a 2009 CNN Hero, Doc Hendley is the Founder and President of Wine to Water, an organization focused on providing clean water to needy people around the world.
 
In 2003, Hendley dreamed up the concept of his organization while bartending and playing music in nightclubs around Raleigh, NC. In February 2004, the first fundraiser was held for what would become Wine To Water; by August of that same year Hendley was living in Darfur, Sudan installing water systems for victims of the government supported genocide. Putting his life in peril, along with those on his team who were committed to providing clean water for the world, two of which were killed during this period, Hendley returned home with an even stronger sense of the need of clean water around the globe.

When Hendley returned home in August 2005 after spending a year in Sudan, the haunting memories of what he had seen in Darfur drove him to continue building the organization he started two years prior.  In 2007, after working two jobs and volunteering his time for three years, Wine To Water became official, and Hendley’s dream finally became a reality. "When the idea came to me to start Wine To Water the only real world job experience I had was tending bar. I dreamed of building an organization that fought water related death and disease using completely different methods than anyone else. So I started raising money to fight this water epidemic the best way I knew how, by pouring wine and playing music."

Hendley now has projects in nine different countries around the world and has saved thousands of lives by providing humanity’s most basic need and right, clean drinking water. Balancing family life and the demands of building Wine to Water, Hendley continues to travel to underdeveloped, war-ridden nations, working in the field to bring clean water to those in need.

• 2. Digging for Hope: Turning Wine to Water & Other Modern Day Miracles

  - How to do what we can with what we have
  - Learn the immense power of relationships to transcend perceived barriers
  - Prove the power of one to transform the impossible into the inevitable

• 1. Hell or High Water: How One Man Turned Wine into Water and Transformed Customers into Crusaders

• What an honor it was to hear Doc speak at PSAV’s management conference. A truly inspirational story which puts everything into perspective. My perception (rightly or wrongly) of most charitable organizations these days is that money is spent on the overhead of the operation and on short term fixes (e.g. bottled water) without putting due consideration into the long term solution. Your approach of starting with “hearts and minds” prior to offering long term solutions is one more agencies should model themselves on. Thank you for sharing your story and touching our hearts and minds.

  PSAV Presentation Services

• His story is amazing and inspirational, yet a tad frightening at the beginning(Darfur!). His use of imagery really brings his spoken story to life for his audience. What a humble and genuine man -- for someone who has experienced and accomplished so much in the humanitarian field, his modesty is remarkable. In a room of hundreds of corporate executives and government and NGO officials, he easily captivated attention because his commitment to the cause is real, his passion is clear, and his speaker presence is engaging. It was a pleasure to get to talk to him more during the event reception, where Wine to Water wine was served.

   

  BCLC

• Thank you for a dyamic and inspiring talk, Doc, and especially for your work bringing clean water to people who desperately need it. It's great to see America so well represented in the world.

  Patrick Kilbride, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

• Doc Hendley is a CAPTIVATING speaker! He was part of a lineup of 16 other presenters at our conference and Doc has received a mountain of attention, compliment and favor from our attendees--one of the favorites by leaps and bounds. He is a total professional and just such a nice guy--charming and humble at the same time. He talked with our guests at the breaks and was completely open to suggestions leading up to and through our event. His talk was incredibly moving and he kept the audience captivated from the moment he took the stage. He has earned his title of Hero. Extraordinary, indeed!

  TEDxCharlotte 2010

• Doc Hendley raised the roof at TEDxAsheville on August 29. In a forum focusing on world (and self) changing ideas, Doc's inspiration was contagious. I heard time and again from individuals shifting their midsets about their own potentials because of Doc's humility and passion. His definitive message that even the most "extraordinarily regular" among us has the power within themselves to make a difference; he offered a new brand of possibilities to many of the nearly 500 people at our conference. He is an asset to the world, and a role model for everyone.

  TEDxAsheville

• Doc Hendley is the epitome of the individual who has made a difference. He never planned to do this but when he saw a need, he saw that he had a talent to actually direct efforts at improving that need. As a result literally tens of thousands of people around the world now have clean drinking water they did not have before Doc Hendley came along. I am honored quite frankly to have Doc Hendley graduate as a graduate of NC State.

  NC State University

• Doc is a fantastic person in every way. His humility and dedication to making the world a better place is contagious for children and adults. His colorful and human stories of Africa and his work kept these youngsters captivated. I enthusiastically recommend him.

  Conversations with Brilliance

• Doc was not only charming and modest, he is one of the most inspiring speakers I have ever heard. He takes you on an emotional journey to communities whose living conditions are unimaginable to most of us, and his ability share his vision, his passion, his commitment and his excitement for his global mission has ignited a flame of passion in our membership as well. We have had the pleasure of Doc's company at all of our events since that one last winter, and we have united behind him and his efforts to make a difference in the world. We are better people as the result of knowing Doc... We think Doc is indeed a "HERO"!

  SITE SOUTHEAST

• There is one thing that rings true every time I have the pleasure of hearing Doc Hendley speak - his passion comes through and hits you like nothing you've ever experienced in your lifetime. It's not just the way he interacts with the audience, a sort of down home person that you seem to already know even though you don't, but it's the message about improving who we are as people each and every day, and helping those who have difficulty helping themselves because of places they live in or the circumstances of their country. Doc brings that message of hope and seems to naturally lift every person out of their comfortable chair and into the wilds of Africa or the devastation in Haiti right alongside him. You feel everything that he feels and see everything that he saw. We are just enamoured to be part of his world in a small way and hoping to work with him to better our world in a meaningful way.

  United Water, 2011 North American Managers Conference

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  January 2012

  Wine to Water: A Bartender's Quest to Bring Clean Water to the World

  Doc Hendley never set out to be a hero. In 2004, Hendley - a small-town bartender - launched a series of wine-tasting events to raise funds for clean-water projects and to bring awareness to the world's freshwater crisis. He planned to donate the proceeds through traditional channels, but instead found himself traveling to one of the world's most dangerous hot spots: Darfur, Sudan.

  Wine to Water is a gripping story about braving tribal warfare and natural disasters and encountering fascinating characters in far-flung regions of the world. It is also an authoritative account of a global crisis and an inspirational tale that proves how ordinary people can improve the world.