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Indiana volunteers donating bottled water to Flint residents

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Indiana residents in South Bend and Fort Wayne are collecting bottles of water to donate to Flint, Michigan, where high levels of lead have been found in the city’s water.

In South Bend, volunteers are organizing a bottled water donation drive for Saturday. Organizer Donald Smith says his 3-year-old son was diagnosed with lead poisoning because of lead-based paint. He says that for him, “this is about the kids.”

Volunteers say they’ll be getting water donations from Indianapolis, Elkhart and Fort Wayne too. They plan to drive the water to Michigan on Sunday.

Another group in Fort Wayne plans a “Fill it Up 4 Flint, Michigan” event. And Fort Wayne city leaders have partnered with a grocery store and have collected at least 27,000 bottles of water. They plan to take the water to Flint on Feb. 1.