Google’s philanthropic arm announced it will donate $250,000 in research and assistance grants to help Flint, Mich., get through its lead water crisis.
“It’s a crisis, one to which the American people readily responded by donating water and resources to help alleviate the immediate pain,” Mike Miller, the head of Google Michigan, wrote in a blog post. “But the problem won’t go away quickly, and understanding its extent is both challenging and an absolute necessity.”
Google has offices in both Ann Arbor and Birmingham. Miller said roughly $35,000 has been donated through employees and Google’s gift match program to help the crisis.
The donations will be given through Google.org, which is the way the company donates to charities, “to help, with a special focus on a technical solution for understanding and resolving the crisis for the long term.”
A $150,000 donation will be given to researchers at the University of Michigan-Flint to develop a data platform that “will assist government and community leaders in making more informed decisions about the crisis and providing critical information to citizens.” Another $100,000 will be given to the Flint Child Health and Development Fund, a nonprofit that will work to ensure the long-term health of Flint families with children up to the age of 6, the group most vulnerable to developmental issues from lead.
Flint’s water became contaminated in April 2014, but only in the past half year received national attention as a crisis.
President Obama visits Flint Wednesday.
