Imagine you got up to get a drink of water and couldn’t. The water that flowed from your pipes was undrinkable, contaminated with lead and feces and heavy metals blended into a nightmarish toxic chemical smoothie. The water wasn’t even healthy enough to bathe in.
This was the situation in Flint, Michigan when (your name here) stepped in to help solve the crisis.
“I realized I had the ability to help these people, and I felt this was a terrific opportunity to show people that capitalism isn’t the evil people make it out to be. It’s because of capitalism that I was able to contribute, and I’m proud to be able to do so.”
(You) didn’t do it alone.
“I recognized that this problem was bigger than me, but I could reach out to other business owners just like me and together we could solve the crisis. It’s what capitalism was designed to do – to look at problems as opportunities to apply creative problem-solving skills and find solutions that benefit everyone.”
This could be the opening to a press release about your business. This could be the opportunity you’ve been looking for to grow beyond your wildest dreams while helping other people at the same time.
The Flint, Michigan water crisis extends beyond the need to replace the pipes and clean the water supply. Those who couldn’t afford to do anything other than drink the water are sick, some are dying. The hospital’s facilities aren’t adequate to care for the situation. It can seem hopeless.
But in every hopeless situation is an opportunity for a great mind like yours to come together with others and find the answers that are needed. And it can begin today. With you.
You can contribute to Catholic Charities GoFundMe campaign, or you can do what you do best. Think of an innovative, creative solution that will do more than just solve a water crisis. It will provide jobs, opportunities, and hope to the community for years to come. Because that’s what entrepreneurs are best at doing.
If you’re not sure where to begin, think of this: The immediate problems of clean drinking water for every household in Flint, Michigan could be solved with a 55 gallon plastic drum and an atmospheric water generator. That’s a $2500 solution that would not only solve the problem today but for years to come.
“Great,” you may be thinking. “I can solve the problem for one household, or maybe 10, but how does that build long-term business opportunities? How does that help me build my business?”
Think of this: those water generators must be periodically maintained. You could provide the water generators for free in exchange for a guarantee that supplies and maintenance would be purchased through you. It’s still cheaper for the residents than buying water from the store or the city, or paying health bills for contaminated water.
The problems are many, but every problem is an opportunity in disguise. The only question is will you be part of the solution?
If you’ll agree to be part of finding a solution for Flint, Michigan, I will agree to help share the story of your business. I will personally interview you and showcase the work you did in an anthology I intend to assemble called Water for Flint: How American Business Owners Banded Together to Save Flint, Michigan. The proceeds from that book will be used to help the people of Flint, Michigan with their ongoing health care needs. I will finish writing that press release and put your company’s name in it and send it everywhere.
And it will all be done at no cost to you, except the costs involved in helping the people of Flint, Michigan.
Together, we can write the story of how business owners like you and I came together to solve the problems of a city in crisis and showed the world that capitalism isn’t the enemy of people – it’s the key to solving their problems.