Asbury Park volunteers need help getting more than 12,000 water bottles to Flint

ASBURY PARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- More than twelve thousand bottles of water and counting - and with space inside an Asbury Park home evaporating, the water is now literally pouring out onto the porch. The water is for Flint, Michigan, in a crisis with its drinking water contaminated with lead. Since so many bottles of water came flowing into New Jersey after Superstorm Sandy, volunteers are trying to pay it back.

"In a time of need, we all come together," says Rahkil Edwards.

Volunteers started collecting the water on Monday, with no idea at the time just how much they would receive.
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"Put it on the porch, put it on the roof - put it on the front yard. Put it wherever, you know," says organizer Knolesha Hammary.

Donations started with residents, bringing in a case at a time, but as word spread on social media, the group had hoped the Red Cross would take the bottles.



However - there is one problem. They received so much water that they are having trouble now getting it to Flint. The Red Cross says the cost of shipping would be more than the value of the water itself. They also say the local government is providing water to Flint residents, so it suggests a monetary donation instead.

Meanwhile, organizers are now hoping someone can help them out with a large truck. They want to send the water on Monday.

Volunteers say one way or another, they are determined to get the water there.