South Chicago church donates 160K bottles of water to Flint, Michigan

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Community leaders in Chicago are sending thousands of bottles of water to the residents of Flint, Michigan, where people cannot drink the water that is coming out of their faucets.

A federal investigation is underway into how much lead was allowed into the drinking water in Flint. It started in 2014, when the city began using the Flint River as its main source of water.

Volunteers at Sweet Holy Spirit Church in South Chicago said they feel it is up to them to get clean, bottled water to the people of Flint.

"For each resident in Flint, it takes a case of water a day to satisfy the need. So the need is great. The cause is great. As alarming as it is, this is something all of us can do something about," said Bishop Tavis Grant, who helped lead the effort.

"Chicago should be proud. The city of Harvey, the city of Robbins, everyone has just been so gracious in this particular humanitarian effort," said Sean Howard, a church spokesperson.

Sweet Holy Spirit held a seven-day drive to collect donations. About 160,000 bottles of water was loaded onto two trucks donated by Custom Companies Trucking Firm Wednesday morning for shipment.

More donated water will be picked up at a Sam's Club in Indiana for delivery. The water should be in Flint by 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, Michigan Governor Rick Synder will propose setting aside $30 million to help pay Flint residents' water bills. An estimated 21,000 residential customers have continued paying their bills despite water problems, while about 9,000 customers have not.