CHARLOTTESVILLE (WINA) – The executive director the Chris Long Foundation is in town this week, first visiting Champion Brewing Wednesday morning to receive a $5800 check for the foundation’s Waterboys initiative. Nicole Woodie says the check from Hunter Smith’s brewery are the latest proceeds from sales of Waterboys beer in groceries across the U.S. in a partnership that started in 2016. Then Friday, they’ll debut Champion Brewing’s Hoops2O beer brand that will also have proceeds going toward Waterboys.

Woodie says Hoops2O was created as the NBA version of former UVA football star Chris Long’s NFL association with his Waterboys initiative. A number of NFL players are representatives of this effort, and former UVA basketball star Malcolm Brogdon started the NBA effort. Waterboys and Hoops2O will be represented at the Lighting of the Lawn Friday night… and Sunday, Hoos head basketball coach Tony Bennett starts college basketball’s support of Waterboys with the game against North Carolina at JPJ.

More details for that are to come.

Waterboys has constructed 75 wells in East Africa communities to have access toward safe drinking water supply. Woodie says access to that water is the key starting education and economic development initiatives — as well as simply allowing households to operate like they need to.