A Buffalo church's bottled water collection drive wraps up Thursday evening. With the collection already exceeding 100,000 bottles, the drive to support residents of Flint, Michigan got late boosts by elected officials, businesses and Buffalo's pro baseball team.
Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, State Senator Tim Kennedy and State Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes appeared Thursday morning to drop off donations and to thank True Bethel Baptist Church leaders for hosting the bottled water drive. The collection will be shipped to Flint this coming weekend for distribution to residents whose public water supply has been contaminated with lead.
"This is such a pronounced statement of what Buffalonians are all about," said Hochul. "When someone needs help, we step up. To have that going on in the East Side of Buffalo, creating an affinity, a sympathy with the people of Flint, Michigan, is such a powerful statement."
Large donations by the Buffalo Bisons and Consumer's Beverages were scheduled to arrive not long after the elected officials made their appearance.
The transport company Roar Logistics is providing a tractor-trailer to ship the bottles to Flint.
