A pastor says donations of bottled water to his Flint church have dried up in the past month.
Donations poured in from across the nation in the weeks and months after it was learned that Flint's drinking water was contaminated with lead. At times, the response nearly overwhelmed the effort to distribute water to Flint residents.
Bishop Roger Lee Jones’ north side church parking lot used to be filled with pallets of water, but now the flood of donations has slowed to a trickle.
Standing next to a small pile of water bottles in the parking lot behind the church, Jones traces the drop in donations to a decline of Flint’s water crisis as a national news story.
“Frankly, there are a lot of people that I meet across the country who believe that the crisis has been solved,” says Jones.
In addition to charities and churches, the state is operating five water distribution centers in Flint. There are plans to open four more distribution centers this summer.
Despite assurances that filters are working, many people in Flint continue to rely on bottled water.
Jones says people need to pray to God for the answer to the crisis that has so far eluded politicians.
