By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

Ortonville-

Mother Teresa was once quoted, “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”

Every drop of water counts in Flint, a city of 98,310, where the H2O coming out of taps continues to be unsafe to drink three years after the water source was changed to the Flint River, resulting in corrosion of pipes and lead poisoning of some residents.

Recognizing the need to help and wanting to do something in recognition of Earth Day, the eight members of the Brandon Fletcher Intermediate School Ecology Club organized a bottled water drive and collected many drops of water from their fellow students, BFIS families and faculty members. In all, they collected 2,931 bottles of water, a total of 49,544 ounces of water, which will be delivered to a church in Flint that will distribute the water to residents in need.

“It’s like that scene from ‘Jaws,’ where he says, ‘I think I’m gonna need a bigger boat,’” said Alisa Lyon, sixth grade teacher and co-leader of the Ecology Club, along with Sarah Spencer and Rebecca Colbert, also sixth grade teachers. “I’m gonna need a bigger truck. These kids are amazing. I think this is the best year ever. They want to share their passion for the environment with others. They love sharing knowledge with others and being the environmental stewards of tomorrow.”

The purpose of the Ecology Club, explained member Liv Miller, is to “help the environment and make the world a better place.” The group meets once a week during their lunch hour, collects paper placed in class bins around the school for recycling, and create school presentations about ecosystems and endangered species to educate their fellow students.

In their effort to help Flint, they made a commercial and did an e-blast to inform their classmates about the problem and garner their assistance, offering some additional motivation with prizes for grade level winners, which were Mrs. Long’s fourth grade class and Mrs. O’Dea’s sixth grade class. The overall winner, collecting the most donations, was Mrs. Sampson’s fifth grade class.

In addition to the bottles and jugs of water, the Ecology Club also received $300 in cash donations which they hope will be used for the purchase of water filters or jugs of water.

“We’re hoping they will recycle the water bottles, but the main focus of this was to get residents of Flint much-needed water,” said Jesse McClennen.