UNC students raise money for clean water in Flint

The Tar Heels for Flint Campaign has organized a solidarity project to raise $5,000 to help the citizens of Flint, Michigan, get clean water.

According to the campaign’s GoFundMe page, residents of Flint have unknowingly drunk and bathed in waters that contained levels of lead that met the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition of toxic waste.

The campaign’s organizers say they’ll use the money to support The North End Soup Kitchen, which is distributing clean water in Flint.

Dominque Brodie, a UNC student who donated to the campaign, said the campaign started through a GroupMe chat called Black Voice.

“There are a bunch of people in it, and we use it as a means of communicating things that are going on in the black community,” Brodie said. “And somebody mentioned in the GroupMe that they wanted to form a group that would help raise funds to do something to support the people in Flint.”

Brodie said he sees institutional racism as one of the causes of the problem.

“I know that the main cause of the problem is because it is the poor, black, urban community, and I know that our government has very little regard for these people’s lives,” Brodie said. “And it has been shown not only in Flint, but across the nation through different killings and different situations that have gone on over the years, especially the past couple of years.”

Jaelyn Coates, the leader of Tar Heels for Flint, said she thinks the government should assume responsibility for this crisis.

“I am really outraged and appalled by the negligence that the government has had for the people of Flint. We recognize that this is part of an attack on poor communities and an attack on communities that are predominately full of people of color, and so we wanted to stand in solidarity with this community.”

Coates said she is confident the students of UNC are benevolent enough to raise $5,000. At press time, the campaign had raised $365.

“We think that if we reach enough students, even if we reach 5,000 students that give $1, we have met our goal,” she said. “We think — with all of the activists on campus and as many people that really care about social justice and about giving back to the community — that this is a pretty feasible goal.”

Stephanie Cassell, a UNC student who also contributed to Tar Heels for Flint, said she thinks water should be a basic utility available to all people in the U.S.

“The cause is important, more so because water should be something that everyone should be able to receive,” Cassell said. “For the simple fact that people aren’t receiving clean water, I think it’s important we step in and do what we can when we can, if we see something going on.”

Cassell said the campaign can only make a difference if people come together in solidarity.

“It’s important to show that you care, even if you don’t know everything from A to Z about what’s going on, but just to show that you care about the people who are being impacted or affected,” she said. “It’s cool to see that people who do a little bit can do a lot when they all come together.”

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