Lil Durk Donates 29K Bottles Of Hand Sanitizer To Illinois Prisons Amid Reports of Water Contamination

Lil Durk is responding to the water crisis plaguing inmates in his home state by providing 29,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to prisons.

The rapper is distributing the bottles through his Neighborhood Heroes Foundation in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Corrections and Chicago Votes. The move follows a March statement where the IDOC and the Illinois Department of Public Health confirmed that Legionella bacteria was discovered in the water supply in two state prisons. As of April, that number has risen to five. Legionella is the bacteria that leads to Legionnaires’ disease, a lethal form of pneumonia. It can enter a person’s lungs through two different routes. It can be inhaled through water droplets (for example, while showering) or aspiration, when water is ingested and “goes down the wrong pipe,” entering the lungs.

The water contamination also makes it extremely difficult for inmates and staff to protect themselves against COVID-19, which continues to run rampant in prisons.

“At the end of the day, this disease ain’t to be played with, and everyone should have the basic hygiene necessities to help prevent catching this virus. It only made sense for my foundation (Neighborhood Heroes) to collaborate with Chicago Votes and IDOC,” Durk shared in a statement.

In recent months, Durk has been pushing several initiatives to help out those in need and better the community. In March, he celebrated the release of his album, “7220,” by giving fans free bitcoin. For his birthday back in October, Neighborhood Heroes teamed up with A&S Beverages to provide families of disabled children under the age of 17 support for medical services they couldn’t afford.