FLINT, MI — Nestle Waters North America says its donation to the city this week will amount to 1.6 million more individual bottles of water.
City officials, including Mayor Karen Weaver, announced the agreement in a news release Wednesday, Aug. 15, saying the donation will supply water to Flint help centers for the remainder of 2018.
Jason Manshum, community relations manager for Nestle, issued a statement late Wednesday, confirming the commitment and said the company will work closely with Weaver and others in the city "to understand how we can best help meet their needs."
Since May, Nestle has provided weekly water donations to three help centers operated in the city by the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan.
Nestle donations started after the state of Michigan stopped paying for bottled water distribution in the city.
The decision came after Lead and Copper Rule testing in the city showed Flint water was below the federal action level for lead for two years following the city’s water crisis.
"Through Labor Day, we will have delivered about 50 truckloads of water, which equates to 100,000 bottles a week or about 1.6 million bottles in total," Manshum’s statement says.
"In addition, our Ice Mountain hydration station has been visiting many local events in Flint and the surrounding areas this summer.
Ice Mountain is one of Nestle’s bottled water brands.
The company said in a news release that it first started providing water donations to Flint in October 2015 and it was part of a coalition that has provided the equivalent of 6.5 million bottles of water to Flint Community Schools.