By Angelique Fullwood
There will be a citywide donation day taking place on April 15 to support people in Flint, Mich., who are living without access to clean water.
A Tallahassee community group called Tally for Flint (#TallyForFlint) is preparing to ship its second 18-wheeler truckload of bottled water and supplies this year as a response to the Flint Water Crisis.
#TallyForFlint started in Jan. 2016 around the same time that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder declared Genesee County to be in a state of emergency over the high levels of lead and iron contamination in the water supply. Reports have shown that since April 2014 between 6,000 and 12,000 children and a total of 102,000 residents of Flint have been exposed.
Local residents, organizations, and businesses of Tallahassee decided to take action in solidarity. On March 2, #TallyForFlint sent a truck filled with pallets of bottled water, filters, baby wipes and other supplies to Triumph Church in Flint, Mich.
Patrick Denson, a Tallahassee resident and founder of Stop The Violence Tallahassee, was one of the local community leaders to contribute to the #TallyForFlint efforts.
“Growing up I didn’t have a lot in my home, but my mom always taught us to give,” said Denson. “If you can help someone, help them. I would want someone to help me out if it were Tallahassee without clean water.”
What happened in Flint, a city no more than 70 miles from the world’s largest bodies of fresh water, is a result of the decision made at the state level. The state, in an effort to save money, switched the water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River.
In order to keep lead leaching into the water it is required to add corrosion-control chemicals. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality violated federal law by not treating the Flint River water with an anti-corrosive agent, causing a city where 41 percent of the population lives in poverty and 57 percent are Black to be exposed to lead poison. For 18 months resident were told by the state that the water was safe.
“When I heard the news it was devastating,” said Denson. “Flint is a predominately black community, a black area, so that made feel really bad. People of color are getting lead poisoning, kids are getting sick, and families are getting sick.”
While proposals have been made by Governor Snyder to fix this water crisis, about half of the service lines to homes in Flint are made of lead. It will take time and money to repair the water infrastructure, but without the ability to move, Flint residents are relying donations.
Those interested in donating to #TallyforFlint can bring supplies Monday-Friday from 8 a.m to 5:30 p.m at the Orange Avenue Self Storage on 1109 W. Orange Ave Tallahassee, Fl.
For more information contact #TallyForFlint on Facebook or at tallyforflint@gmail.com
