Detroit-Based CrowdRise Teams Up With Craig Newmark To Provide 25,000 Cases Of Water To Flint Residents

DETROIT, Jan. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today CrowdRise, the world's largest online platform dedicated to charitable fundraising, announced a massive Water for Flint challenge at https://www.crowdrise.com/waterforflint in partnership with Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist and craigconnects, to deliver 25,000 cases of water to the residents of Flint, Michigan. For every $20 donation made to any fundraiser on https://www.crowdrise.com/helpforflint, Newmark will match the donation with 100 cases of water to be distributed to the residents in Flint by The United Way of Southeastern Michigan.

"The deal is I want to put clean drinking water into the hands of every resident of Flint, Michigan," said Newmark, who lived in Michigan for 10 years. "The situation is real bad and we need to get folks from across the US to support the people of Flint right now."

In the last week, CrowdRise, which is headquartered in metro Detroit – just minutes from Flint – has helped launch several high profile fundraising and matching campaigns to create enormous leverage for individuals and organizations determined to help Flint residents cope with the water crisis.

On Thursday, CrowdRise announced a partnership with musician and Detroit-native Big Sean and his non-profit the Sean Anderson Foundation by launching the #HEALFLINTKIDS campaign. On Friday, Pearl Jam and CrowdRise launched a campaign kicked off by a $300,000 donation from the band and friends. Jack White's Detroit-based Third Man Records joined the effort with a fundraiser using incentives and prizes to encourage donors to participate. 

"It's been amazing to see so many people from across the country, and really the world, pull together to help relief efforts in Flint," said Robert Wolfe, CEO and co-founder of CrowdRise. "Craig Newmark, Pearl Jam, Jack White and Big Sean are incredible catalysts. I don't think I'll ever get over seeing the way the CrowdRise community reacts to everything from a massive crisis like this to helping a single homeless person.  This is exactly why we launched CrowdRise."

Water For Flint will benefit The United Way of Southeastern Michigan, which has a partnership in place to purchase and distribute water to residents in need, and is now accepting donations at https://www.crowdrise.com/waterforflint. 100 cases of water cost $200.

Newmark's goal is to make every donation of just $20 go further, and craigconnects will be matching donations until he hits the match goal of $50,000. Anyone can donate directly to Water for Flint to contribute additional cases of water. 

Organizations and individuals are encouraged to visit crowdrise.com/helpforflint to set up fundraisers of their own to continue to drive attention and aid in relief efforts. Every fundraiser helps provide more water to Flint residents. 

About CrowdRise

CrowdRise is the world's largest and fastest growing online platform dedicated exclusively to charitable fundraising. For more information visit http://www.crowdrise.com/. 

SOURCE CrowdRise