Students spearhead efforts to raise money for clean water
Water is a precious resource and perhaps no recent event has served to remind the public more of that than the Flint, MI, water crisis, which has left thousands of residents suffering the effects of tainted drinking water containing lead and other toxins. When they heard about the crisis, Mineola High School students Julianne Ortiz and Kayleigh Bugalla knew they had to help. The two seniors launched a campaign to not only inform the student body and community about the crisis, but raise money to help Flint residents have access to clean water.
“We felt strongly about this particular thing and a lot of people we knew didn’t know what it was or what was going on,” Ortiz said. “We were appalled this was going on for so long and wanted to do something to inform people and put in all our efforts to help.”
The two started a GoFundMe page, informing visitors as to what the Flint water crisis was and asking them to donate money. They thought their initial goal of $1,000 was ambitious, but by the end of one day, they had raised more than a grand on their page. As of presstime, 46 people have donated $1,860 to the page. All the proceeds will go towards the United Way of Genesee County to buy water filters and bottled water, as well as for development to work with children who have been affected by the lead toxicity.
While raising money is extremely important to the girls, they also want to raise awareness. The two did a lot of research to learn more about the water crisis and informed their peers as to what was going on as well.
“We looked at websites and learned things not even in the news,” Ortiz said. “We learned how many high schoolers hadn’t even heard of Flint. Raising money was important, but also important was making people aware.”
The students set up an informational booth at the high school for two days where they used an iPad to show students a documentary about the crisis and did a simulation of what the water in Flint looked like. They also did a bake sale, with three tables worth of baked goods donated by their peers, and were able to raise more than $500.
“It’s reassuring how much people care and come together and contribute when they do care,” Bugalla said. “To the people we introduced this crisis to, they were really horrified and shocked. They wanted to contribute and it was reassuring that people still care enough to want to help.”
Ortiz and Bugalla hope to raise $2,000 by May 31 on their GoFundMe page. To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/maxhw4kc.
