THE INSPIRATION BEHIND PINK HYDRATION

Co-Founder - Phil Sardelis

Philip grew up in a house of smokers. It's unsurprising that his experience with cancer is therefore an intimate one. His father, a man who’s strength was ever-present in the foundations of his childhood, battled prostate cancer in his later years.

It was a difficult brawl considering he had already been at war with Parkinson’s and Dementia and he finally raised the white flag on an eternal September night. Philip himself struggled with lung cancer, years of second hand smoking the likely culprit that broke the camels back.

He was 48, the love of his life pregnant with their daughter and three other children at home. It wasn’t until he saw his wife for the last time before surgery, that he came to fear that would be the last time he would see her. That he would never see the little monster cradled in her swollen belly. When he first held his daughter in his arms, the surreality of having been so close to deaths door made him appreciate every blessing in his life.

Now, six years later, he hopes to aid those who are currently in the position he was in not so long ago. Whether it be in the waiting room, a bundle of nerves awaiting the doctor’s report, or looking your life in the eye and wondering if you did everything right before you go under the knife, he aims to contribute to better cancer research, resources, and support.

​

However, Pink Hydration is not the first charitable project Philip has endeavored in. Recently, Philip teamed up with a few other organizations and fed 100 Vietnam Veterans at the presentation where they received the keys to their new homes. Not only that but he feeds 300 inmates every year, the House for Battered Women, and donates to multiple churches among other charitable works.

​

All this derives from the Greek home of his childhood, which encouraged kindness and humanitarianism. It is due to this that Pink Hydration encompasses more than just another cause that touched Philips heart and instead is something deeply personal to him.

​

The water gathered for Pink Hydration can be sourced back to Philips roots in the highlands of Greece. As a first generation immigrant, his home was a transplantation of Greek culture in Maryland - which lacked the cyan seas and iconic architecture of his homeland. Nevertheless, he loves this country he calls home, just as much as he loves the country his parents knew to be home.

With the duality of his Greek-American background, Philip hopes for Pink Hydration to be more than just a charity, but to serve as a reminder of the importance of family, no matter how complex it may be.