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Since the Flint water crisis went national in 2014, the Michigan city still suffers from contaminated water, but Jaden Smith is fighting to get that resolved. His foundation that he started with his dad, Will Smith, JUST — which processes 100% sustainably sourced spring water — has partnered up with First Trinity Missionary Baptist Church to establish a mobile water treatment system for residents.
As bottled water donations to the metropolitan area continue to decline, the new operation, named The Water Box will reduce harmful contaminants in the water that is available for use. This process will produce up to 10 gallons of clean drinking water per minute, according to ABC 15, and will be tested each day for cleanliness, as well as every few weeks by an independent and certified laboratory.
“This has been one of the most rewarding and educational experiences for me personally,” said the rapper. “Working together with people in the community experiencing the problems and design(ing) something to help them has been a journey I will never forget. We are planning to deploy more water boxes in Flint and other communities facing similar challenges.”
Not only has this been an eye-opening journey for him, but his mother, Jada Pinkett Smith expressed how proud she was of him for making such an impact, and caring for others.
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This isn’t the first time the actor has supported the city. Prior to working with the religious institution, Jaden and his father gave away bottles of water from their company on a monthly basis to help with the crisis. On the other side of the collaboration, the church will allow locals to fill up any container of their choice with clean H2O that will be accessible to be received during set distribution times. “We are committed to serving the community in which we worship in,” said Pastor Ezra Tillman.
So what’s next for Jaden? In January, Tyler the Creator‘s boyfriend announced his organization’s newest global expansion to responsibly source Australian spring bottled water to that Oceania country.
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