RTI International donates $10,000 and 8,600 boxes of water in support of Flint, Michigan, water crisis

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC— In support of relief efforts for the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, RTI International donated $10,000 to the American Red Cross. RTI also gave 8,600 boxes of emergency drinking water to the effort via Disaster Relief at Work, a nonprofit organization based in Michigan that provides relief services to communities hit by natural disasters.

As a cost-saving measure, Flint's water supply was switched in April 2014 from Lake Huron to the Flint River, which contained water that was 19 times more corrosive than the water in Lake Huron. As a result, lead leached from pipes and fixtures into the drinking water. Lead can have serious health implications, and can be fatal in children especially.

A federal state of emergency was declared on Jan. 16, and state and federal officials are now tackling this crisis along with the American Red Cross and other nonprofit organizations.

The Red Cross is helping the government distribute bottled water, water filters, replacement cartridges and home water testing kits to the residents of Flint. So far the Red Cross has successfully distributed 32,500 bottles of water, more than 21,570 water filters and replacement filters, and more than 2,700 testing kits to nearly 35,000 homes visited.

In addition to this, the organization is recruiting local volunteers to reach out to as many homes as possible.

RTI has a corporate office in Ann Arbor, which is approximately 54 miles away from Flint.