Distributing Water in Flint (2016) by J Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue

The Freep reports that in the city of Flint, Michigan, the coronavirus pandemic is adding to the daily hardship some citizens have endured for over 5 years following the Flint Water Crisis and making it even more difficult for organizations to help:

Volunteers aren’t showing up to hand out water and food for fear of catching the virus — and, some residents say, they are now having difficulty buying what they need because the supermarket shelves are bare as a result of panicked shoppers.

“The stores don’t have it,” Sandra Jones, the executive director of R.L. Jones Community Outreach Center in Flint, said of bottled water. “We have people who called and promised to volunteer, but because of the pandemic every single one of them backed out.”

Every Thursday, she said, hundreds of residents line up at the center at Greater Holy Temple Church of God in Christ. They arrive as early as 4 a.m., where the bottle water distribution starts at 10 a.m.

The residents, Jones added, come in cars with folks from two, three and four families.

“We could certainly use help, and we could use letting people know we are not yet out of this crisis,” she said. “People are agitated. They are scared.”

Indeed. If you would like to help the R.L. Jones Community Outreach Center, contact Sandra Jones at Greater Holy Temple Church of God in Christ, 6702 Dort Hwy, in Flint, (810) 787-3960.

Shoutout to Michigan-based Circle of Blue & their great “The Stream” newsletter for the heads up! Click to read their coverage of the Flint Water Crisis & support their water journalism.