Musk makes good on promise to Flint
Tesla CEO gives $500K to schools to fix water woes
With all the drama surrounding Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and how his tweeting has gotten him into hot water on multiple occasions over the past few months, (for example, calling a British cave diver “pedo guy.” Surprising everyone, including the Securities and Exchange Commission with an idea to take Tesla private.) it looks like one of Musk’s tweets actually has done some good for people who need it.
In July, Musk went on Twitter and pledged to do whatever he could to help provide clean water to homes in Flint, Michigan, that were affected by what has been called the Flint water crisis. That situation started four years ago when lead and other toxins that were higher than levels considered safe by the Food and Drug Administration were found to be contaminating much of Flint’s water supply.
When he went on Twitter three months ago, Musk said, in effect, for Flint to fix the problem and send him the bill.
“Please consider this a commitment that I will fund fixing the water in any house in Flint that has water contamination above FDA levels. No kidding,” Musk tweeted on July 11.
Well, this past weekend, Flint’s schools got some help from Musk.
The city of Flint said in a statement that because of a $480,350 donation from Musk and the Musk Foundation, the Flint Community Schools would be installing new ultraviolet water-filtration systems for water fountains in all school buildings. The new fountains and filtration systems will be in place in 12 Flint schools, as well as the district’s administration building, by the end of January 2019.
Derrick Lopez, Flint Community Schools superintendent, said the district is “deeply grateful,” and thanked Musk for his contribution to the efforts to provide clean water in Flint.
“The new water filtration systems will be instrumental in helping our students return to the normalcy of what should be a fundamental right: having access to safe, clean water from water fountains in their school,” Lopez said in a statement.
And, since this is Musk we are talking about, the Tesla boss used Twitter to respond to Flint, and leave the door open for future contributions.
“You’re most welcome,” Musk tweeted, in response to Flint’s thanks. “Hope to do more in the future.”