Water donations pour in for Flint

 

By Jordan Caschera

 

Windsorites filed into the Windsor Family Credit Union Centre with water donations to help aid the city of Flint, Mich. with its drinking water crisis.

 

The Windsor Spitfires hosted the Flint Firebirds Jan. 21 in the first game of a two part series. Fans were asked by the Spitfires organization to donate any size and quantity of bottled water for the city of Flint. The city has recently been in a water crisis after the discovery of lead and other corrosives in their drinking water.

 

The game was only a part of the action seen with fans donating over 50,000 bottles of water after the organization sent out a message asking for help.

 

The overwhelming amount of support caught stores like Costco, FreshCo and the organization off guard, according to Nathan Sellon, director of fan development for the Windsor Spitfires.

 

“People are telling me water is sold out everywhere,” said Sellon. “Its great to see all the support.”

 

Sellon said fans began to drop off donations 11 hours before puck drop which quickly led to collecting over 19,000 bottles before the doors opened to the public. Sellon said the quantity of bottles changed the simplicity of the plan to ship the water.

 

“We are taking a fan bus to Flint on Saturday, but due to the overwhelming amount of support, we can’t just load up the bus,” said Sellon

 

Leamington Flyers’ owner Abe Fehr has offered to get the cargo delivered.

Fehr, who owns the Leamington-based manufacturing firm Uni-Fab, contacted Spitfires’ general manager Warren Rychel to offer to transport the water across the border free of charge.

 

“It’s nice to have the rivalry on the ice,” said Sellon “But off the ice, it’s nice to break down the borders and help when they need us most.”

 

Flint’s drinking water became contaminated with lead in 2014 when the city began temporarily drawing water from the Flint River. The water was then treated at the city treatment plant while it waited for a new water pipeline to Lake Huron to be completed.

 

“They’re our closest neighbours and lead poisoning isn’t something to mess around with,”said Jerry Forbes, a Spitfires fan. “If we were in that position our U.S. neighbours would help us out too.”

 

Many fans seemed to agree saying they felt obligated to donate to the cause.

 

“They’re our neighbours,” said Bob Trudell a season ticket holder for the Spitfires. “We need to feel compassion for them and it’s a fantastic idea to donate.”

 

Spitfires fan George Grayson said the thought of donating was a quick and simple decision.

 

“People need help, thats why we are donating,” said Grayson.“They are our neighbours.”

 

The Flint Firebirds thanked Windsorites and the Spitfires organization through Twitter shortly after two semi-trucks delivered the water to the Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center in Flint prior to their next game.