With the city of Flint, Michigan, in a continued state of emergency, after it was revealed that high levels of lead had contaminated the city's drinking water, a group of NFL players banded together and decided to offer some help.
The Washington Redskins' defensive line had a group conversation and decided to donate 3,600 bottles of Fiji water to the town as it works to overcome a horrifying public safety disaster.
Dline just ordered 3600 bottles of @FIJIWater to @CCharitiesUSA in Flint, Michigan. Our Prayers are with that city and hope this can help.
— Terrance Knighton (@MisterRoast98) January 20, 2016
It's amazing what a simple group chat can do. It is very important that our youth is healthy, because they are the future of this country.
— Terrance Knighton (@MisterRoast98) January 20, 2016
Knighton told ESPN that he woke up one morning and texted his fellow linemen to see if they were interested in helping. Within an hour, everyone had agreed to pitch in and split the bill.
Flint, a town whose economy was once built heavily on the automotive industry, is dealing with high levels of lead contamination in the water that pose an immediate threat to the well-being of its children.
The crisis flared into a scandal when the public learned that elected officials, reaching as high as the Michigan governor Rick Snyder, knew about the lead contamination and neither sought to fix the problem nor inform citizens that their water was unsafe for consumption.
As protests and outcry continue to swirl, this small group of football players hopes its offering will make a small dent in helping Flint recover.
