CCAC, IUP Students Heading To Flint To Help With Water Crisis
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - There have been many protests and hearings. The water crisis in Flint, Michigan has been discussed by the presidential candidates on the campaign trail as well.
Now, a group of local college students is getting an up-close look at the problems in Michigan.
There are many different ways for students to learn and sometimes it's more than just reading about it in a book. For the students at CCAC South, it's a matter of getting on a bus and going to Flint, Michigan to find out first-hand about the water problems.
"Service learning is something that we are really trying to push here at the college - and we really want to get our students involved in the service because of what they are learning in the classroom can definitely connect into the community," Christopher Robinson, of CCAC's Social Work Department, said.
For three days, about two dozen students from CCAC and about that many from IUP will travel to Flint to help with the recovery from the water crisis.
"This kind of situation could happen anywhere. Unfortunately, it happened in a place that has already had a lot of population loss and other problems, but it could happen anywhere and we need to go help these other students just like them," Benjamin Williams said.
So far, CCAC South students have raised about $1,500, which is enough to donate 200 cases of bottled water when they get to Flint. They want to raise $5,000 through a GoFundMe page, but that's just the beginning.
"We'll be meeting with other social work faculty and other students at Mott Community College to really have a collaborative dinner to be able to talk more about these issues and brainstorm about short term solutions of how social work students and students period can get involved,"Robinson said.
"We are staying in the city. We have made all the particular precautions. We have checked with the city government. We have checked with the Chamber of Commerce. We have checked everything out to be sure that they are going to have a safe trip when they go up there," Williams said.
The students will head to Michigan on Thursday.
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