A few days before the Michigan-Ohio State football game, two former rivals gathered at Detroit's Mumford High School to drop nearly 2,000 special water bottles and inspire students.

A high school-wide assembly at Mumford High School was both a philanthropic activity, a promotion and a motivational gathering.

"Hate is real," said Devin Gardner, a former quarterback from the University of Michigan who now lives in Southfield and who is an NFL free agent, while he slipped into his role as a chatter . "But life is going on, and life is not going to stop for the Ohio State-Michigan game."

Donnie Evege, a former Ohio State player who currently owns an Ohio-based bottled water company, OH²O, has teamed up with Gardner and other football players for return and return the 1-liter bottles to the students.

Evege said his goal was to help resolve the water crisis that plagues Mumford and other schools in the Detroit School District and show Detroit students that they were loved, especially this week, by the people of Ohio.

The water crisis in the school district began in August when Detroit Superintendent Nikolai Vitti ordered the closure of the water after the test results revealed high levels of lead or water. copper in some schools.

Instead, schools have installed temporary water coolers.

In spite of his "Go Blue" jabs, Gardner, who grew up in Detroit and wore a "Revenge Tour" sweatshirt and blue shoes and corn, literally helped carry water Tuesday for sure. Former players of the Ohio State, carrying lockers on a truck.

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Devin Gardner, a former Michigan quarterback, helps with bottled water at Mumford High School. (Photo: Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press)

Gardner said that he deeply appreciated and respected what Eve was doing and that rival team players come together to help each other when "you really do not want to" show courage – and Love – for a much bigger cause.

Gardner, Evege and others distributed the water bottles as students entered the school's Jemele Hill auditorium, named after the former ESPN journalist and graduate of Mumford.

Evege, who also identifies as a motivational speaker, said that he also sought to share with students the virtues of drinking water, which he called "an essential ingredient of life," and to encourage them to make big dreams.

"I was born and raised in Ohio," he said. "I played football for Ohio State, I dreamed of the NFL.This did not happen because of three end-of-season injuries.Since then, I've written a book and I now own a bottled water company. "

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In October, the district announced that it would receive much of the money needed to permanently remedy the problem of water – about 2.4 million dollars of donations – from companies and organizations for the development of filters to remove contaminants.

However, the filters, which will be incorporated into the new hydration stations, should not be installed until the summer or the beginning of the 2019 school year.

One station should be set up for 100 students, in gymnasiums and teachers' lounges.

In the meantime, however, Evege said he would like to help by proposing the product that he is starting to sell in Ohio.

According to Evege, OH²O is an alkaline ionized water supplemented by electrolytes and minerals. He added that water formulation can have additional benefits for the health and well-being of students.

OH²O, he says, is an acronym for providing hydration to others.

Water has caused mixed reactions.

Some students have declined. Some said that it did not taste good. The others loved it.

"It tastes strange," said Jerrico Hawthorne, 14, a freshman. "I do not drink water anyway."

But 15-year-old Queen Turner said she took a sip of OH²O water and found it was like "plain water", adding that she drank iced water in her own bottle. every day and she was happy to have it.

Evege told the students at the meeting that whatever their dreams, they can do it.

"Your dreams must outweigh the temptations," he said. "Achieving your dreams and goals should outweigh any distractions.It is a state of mind.When this happens, you win."

Contact Frank Witsil at 313-222-5022 or [email protected].

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