Beyoncé announces fund to help children affected by the Flint water crisis
The singer announced the fund following her show-stopping Super Bowl performance with Coldplay and Bruno Mars
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Your support makes all the difference.Beyoncé has become the latest high-profile figure to lend her support to the Flint water crisis.
While news of her upcoming Formation world tour broke on Monday, the singer also took the chance to announce the work her #BeyGood initiative will be doing to help the crisis in the Michigan city.
The statement said the initiative will be supporting the local programme United Way who have already distributed filtration pitchers, faucet mount filters, replacement cartridges and “truckloads of water” to those affected.
A fund will also be created in conjunction with the Community Foundation of Greater Flint which will “address the long-term developmental, education, nutrition and health needs of the children affected by the Flint Water Crisis”.
More than 100,000 residents have been left without safe water after the city’s water became contaminated with lead from old pipes two years ago. The contamination occurred when officials decided to temporarily switch Flint’s water source to the Flint River instead of Detroit’s water system in a bid to cut costs.
In the wake of the crisis, a federal emergency has been declared and a federal lawsuit filed, accusing the city and state of endangering the public’s health.
Beyoncé’s generosity follows the likes of Puff Daddy, Mark Wahlberg, Eminem and Wiz Khalifa who teamed up to donate one million water bottles to the city. Cher also donated 180,000 bottles and rapper The Game made a donation of $500,000 to Flint’s residents.
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