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Cher has donated 180,000 bottles of water to Flint, Michigan

Cher has donated 180,000 bottles of water to Flint, Michigan
Cher is doing her part to aid the people of Flint, Michigan as the city suffers through its ongoing water crisis.

Partnering with Icelandic Glacial, Cher is donating 181,440 bottles of water after lead contamination was discovered in the city’s drinking water.

EW reports that the bottles will be shipped out Monday and arrive in Flint as early as Wednesday, where they will subsequently be distributed to those in need.

Many of those donations will be handed to low-income housing areas, community centers, food banks, and fire houses.

Discussing the situation in Flirt, Cher said:

“This is a tragedy of staggering proportion and shocking that it’s happening in the middle of our country. I am so grateful that Icelandic Glacial has come on-board to help the city of Flint. I cannot wait for the water to get there to help these people who have been poisoned because the water they’ve been getting out of their taps has been polluted for so long.”

President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration Saturday that clears the way for federal aid.

The White House also said the Federal Emergency Management Agency will coordinate all disaster relief efforts to “alleviate the hardship and suffering” on residents.

FEMA has been authorized to provide water, filters, cartridges and other items for 90 days.

Flint can get up to $5 million in direct funding, though the state must match 25 percent and more money can come through an act of Congress.

Republican Gov. Rick Snyder requested emergency and disaster declarations late Thursday, saying needs “far exceed the state’s capability,” and added that emergency measures could cost $41 million.

Snyder said Saturday that Obama denied the disaster declaration request based on the legal requirement that such relief is intended for natural events, fires, floods or explosions. Despite the legal limitation, the governor is considering an appeal to exhaust “every opportunity to provide resources” for residents, Snyder spokesman Dave Murray said.

The tap water in Flint, population 99,000, became contaminated after the city switched from the Detroit water system to the Flint River while a pipeline to Lake Huron is under construction. The corrosive water lacked adequate treatment and caused lead to leach from old pipes in homes and schools.

Flint returned to the Detroit system in October after elevated lead levels were discovered in children, and could tap into the new pipeline by summer. But officials remain concerned that old pipes could continue to leach lead, to which exposure can cause behavior problems and learning disabilities in children as well as kidney ailments in adults.

The National Guard has been distributing free water, filters and other supplies, and FEMA workers already were providing logistical and technical support.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow said she will push for long-term resources, and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, also a Democrat, said residents “deserve every resource available to make sure they have safe water and are able to recover from this terrible man-made disaster created by the state.”

The U.S. Justice Department is helping the Environmental Protection Agency investigate the matter, and state Attorney General Bill Schuette has opened his own probe, which could focus on whether environmental laws were broken or if there was official misconduct.

Cher has been following the crisis in Flint for some time now, and on social media, she’s been an outspoken critic of Gov. Rick Snyder’s involvement in the crisis. She also tweeted that she’s been working with Flint’s mayor, Karen Weaver.

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