Mari Copeny, better known as ‘Little Miss Flint,’ has reached a milestone in her ongoing fight for clean water in Flint, Michigan.
The 17-year-old activist has been running her clean water race since she was 8 years old. Copeny made her mark in media after sending a letter to former President Barack Obama about the water crisis that Flint residents were experiencing. This prompted Obama to visit for himself and see the damages firsthand. Once the crisis was assessed, a $100 million relief fund was approved for the city. However, while the money may have helped out, it did not completely fix the situation, leading Copeny to continue the fight for her community.
A few years ago, Copeny launched a GoFundMe account called “Little Miss Flint Clean Water Fund” with a goal of raising $1,000,000. The donation fund was created to assist Copeny with bringing clean water to Flint and providing its residents with proper water filtration systems. While Copeny did previously bring over one million water bottles to Flint families to combat the water crisis, the young activist felt like more needed to be done. According to the GoFundMe, Copeny says the donations will “eliminate the single use plastic waste that is associated with bottled water.”
As of a few days ago, Copeny has not only reached her million-dollar goal but has also surpassed it, racking in 26.3K donations totaling $1,004,607. The donations ranged from $5 to numbers as high as $500. But, the biggest donation came from NBA star Kyrie Irving. The Dallas Maverick point guard made $50,000 donation to Copeny’s fund last year. It’s said that Irving wasn’t looking for any recognition for making his contribution, seeing as though his donation wasn’t made public until other donors noticed his name amongst others who sent money. ,
Needless to say, Copeny’s journey is still not over and she still continuing her mission. But, it is nice to know that her efforts aren’t going unnoticed!
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