President Obama is preparing for his first trip to Flint, Michigan since the water crisis began there more than two years ago.
Many have asked the president to come, but 8-year-old Mari Copeny, whose title around town is “Little Miss Flint,” is the one who finally convinced him.
Copeny wrote to the president shortly before she and her family traveled to Washington, D.C. for Governor Rick Snyder’s hearing before Congress about his role in Flint’s lead tainted water.
Copeny asked to meet President or Mrs. Obama while she was in DC, but never received a response.
Until last week, when her mom told her she had received a response from President Obama.
“I didn’t even believe her,” Copeny said. “I thought she was lying.”
President Obama thanked Copeny for her letter and said he was coming to visit Flint on Wednesday, May 4.
Copeny won the title of “Little Miss Flint” in a pageant last year, but because of her activism in the city during the water crisis, she has been awarded the title for another year.