Last month I wrote an article entitled “Detroit, With 40% Poverty Rate, Now Shutting Off Water To Residents Who Can’t Pay Their Bill” which was about how (it’s probably obvious) Detroit is shutting water off in the poorest parts of the city where unemployment and poverty are chronic.

As with all things Detroit, there were a variety of opinions on the matter. Some suggested, helpfully, that the poor people should get a job. Others talked about the overall amount of money owed to the city of Detroit which included businesses and individuals (businesses owe way more), and others asked what they could do.

Commenter Bovii, who I think knows he can be acerbic sometimes, essentially told people to stop talking about what to do and just go donate money to the Detroit Water Project which allows individuals with money to donate some of it directly towards the water bills of people in Detroit who can’t afford to.

And he was right. A lot of writers and bloggers and Facebookers share things and talk about what ought to be done and while that’s important, it’s more important to do what can be done.

After trying to think up some grand viral scheme to address the problem that would almost certainly have failed, I donated $200 and now I think you should donate a little money too. Here’s how Bovii suggested it be done and I hope he doesn’t mind me quoting him.

It really kind of is that simple but let me tell you how it works to actually donate and show you what the process looks like.

What the Process Looks Like

As Bovii says above, type detroitwaterproject.org into your URL and hit enter. Once there you will be asked for two things, 1) how much you want to donate and 2) your email address.

Once you enter those things you will be sent to a page that tells you that they will contact you in a few days after you have been matched with someone in need.

In a few days you will receive an email and it will look like this:

Then you will click the link and it will take you here:

Then you will confirm and start the payment. This page will tell you how much the person owes and the last time anyone paid anything. In this case it was April 2nd. This person owes a total of $6,014.18. That may seem insurmountable and ultimately it may be. But, to me, the point is that this person will have this hanging on them for the rest of what is probably a pretty tough life. If you owe over 6 grand on just water and sewer then what are you doing without?

Click “make payment” and you come to this page:

Enter your amount and all your personal data which I have omitted and, like any other online purchase, you hit “submit” and it submits. Then you get a confirmation email.

Then you’re done. Do it. Give 5, 10, 15, 40, a million dollars, whatever. Do it and ask others to do it. Share this or simply pass the word along. I think it’s worth making a difference even if it’s a small one.

Here’s the link to the Detroit Water Project again and thank you for reading.