LAS VEGAS — A partnership built around something as basic — and essential — as soap and clean water is entering another year of service, with Las Vegas Sands contributing $450,000 to The WASH Foundation to support hygiene assistance, water stewardship and programs serving people facing hardship.
The contribution brings Sands’ support of the foundation to more than $6.5 million since 2014, according to an Aug. 4 announcement from the company.
The 2026 funding will support three areas: the annual Sands Cares Global Hygiene Kit Build, water initiatives through the Drop By Drop Project and organizational support that helps The WASH Foundation maintain and expand its programs.
“This year’s contribution reflects something rare in corporate partnerships – after more than a decade, Sands’ commitment to our mission has only deepened,” Shawn Seipler, founder and CEO of Clean the World Global and chairman of The WASH Foundation board, said in the announcement. “The 2026 Sands Cares investment touches every dimension of our work, from hygiene kits reaching families in crisis, to water stewardship in the company’s home regions, to the operational backbone that lets us scale what works.”
65,000 kits — and more than a decade of service
This year’s Sands Cares Global Hygiene Kit Build will bring employees together in Las Vegas, Macao and Singapore to assemble 65,000 hygiene kits. The kits will be distributed by The WASH Foundation to people experiencing hardship and crisis situations in those regions.
The volunteer effort has grown substantially since Sands and the foundation launched the annual build with Clean the World in 2014. Sands employees have now produced more than 1.1 million hygiene kits through the initiative.
The partnership’s impact extends beyond the kits. Sands, Clean the World and The WASH Foundation have collaborated to distribute 4.6 million bars of soap to people in need while diverting more than 667,000 pounds of waste from landfills, according to the company.
The relationship also helped establish the Fresh Start WASH and Wellness Program, which provides mobile shower services to people experiencing homelessness. Sands supplied seed funding for that initiative and, in 2014, provided funding that helped transform Clean the World’s Las Vegas recycling center into a full soap manufacturing operation.
Clean water and stronger communities
The work addresses a need that stretches far beyond any single community. Sands said an estimated 4.2 billion people worldwide lack access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene resources.
Part of the new contribution will continue supporting the Drop By Drop Project in Macao and Singapore. The initiative provides grants for projects intended to improve water resilience, restore ecosystems, develop new water solutions and involve local communities.
Three initiatives are slated for support in 2026, including household rainwater harvesting and filtration systems, coastal ecosystem research, and restoration of community spaces paired with education, training and environmental monitoring.
Another portion of the contribution will support The WASH Foundation’s operational and capacity-building needs — the less-visible infrastructure that enables nonprofits to deliver and expand their work.
The foundation says that since 2009 it has served more than 17.8 million people, provided disaster-relief supplies to more than 1.7 million people, distributed more than 95.7 million bars of soap and supplied 7.5 million hygiene and comfort kits.
For Sands, the relationship has also become a way for employees in different parts of the world to participate in a shared act of service.
“Our WASH Foundation partnership continues to be a key Sands Cares priority as it’s the only global nonprofit engagement in which all of our regions participate,” Ron Reese, Sands senior vice president of global communications and corporate affairs, said. “Over the years we’ve collaborated with the foundation to bring many important programs to our regions, with our annual kit build growing to be one of our top Team Member and community engagement initiatives.
“It’s an important symbol of our culture of service around the world.”
For Heartitude founder Bruce Petillo, the partnership illustrates how sustained service can multiply the value of an initial act of generosity.
“Real impact grows when compassion becomes a commitment. A hygiene kit may seem simple, but to someone going through a difficult moment, it can restore dignity and remind them that people they may never meet still care about their well-being. That is Heartitude in action.” — Bruce Petillo, founder of Heartitude
After more than a decade, the numbers tell part of the story: millions of bars of soap, more than a million kits and hundreds of thousands of pounds kept out of landfills. But behind those numbers are people giving their time so other people can meet basic needs with greater health and dignity.
That is where a corporate contribution becomes something more personal — when dollars become supplies, employees become volunteers and a long-running partnership becomes an opportunity to care for people one kit at a time.