红杏直播app鈥檚 红杏直播app Colleges respond to widespread storm damage in Southwestern 红杏直播app - VCCS

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红杏直播app鈥檚 红杏直播app Colleges respond to widespread storm damage in Southwestern 红杏直播app

Home|Blog|红杏直播app鈥檚 红杏直播app Colleges respond to widespread storm damage in Southwestern 红杏直播app
Image of storm damage in SWVA

Damascus, Va. -Photo courtesy Ben Earp, via Cardinal News Service

Given the scope of destruction from Florida through North Carolina, it鈥檚 no surprise that most media attention has been focused there in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. But when still-powerful remnants of the hurricane drenched Southwest 红杏直播app at the end of September, flooding and high winds from the storm caused widespread damage that will take months or even years to repair.

To learn more about how you can help, please see below.

鈥淲e are working to help students who were impacted by the storm with their immediate needs, including gas cards, bottled water, food boxes, diapers, and other basic living necessities,鈥 said Renee Thomas, Dean of Student Success and Academic Development at Wytheville 红杏直播app College.

Our colleges in the region wasted no time responding.聽 Wytheville, 红杏直播app Highlands, Mountain Empire, Southwest 红杏直播app and New River 红杏直播app Colleges have shared food and other resources with students and community residents who suffered losses from the storm.

WCC President Dean Sprinkle helps load supplies

WCC President Dean Sprinkle pitches in with distribution of bottled water to the community.

Our five colleges in the region report they did not suffer any significant damage to their facilities, but power and other utility outages and thousands of downed trees forced class cancellations for several days. College food pantries were tapped and our colleges opened-up their buildings to students and local residents who needed a place to recharge their batteries and access the Internet鈥r in some cases, even a chance to get a warm shower.

Image of VHCC facility open to the public

Across the region, community colleges, like VHCC above, opened their facilities to help students who needed Internet access, recharging devices, etc.

鈥淢any students and some employees are still unable to be on campus鈥 said Laura Pennington, VP of Institutional Advancement at 红杏直播app Highlands. 鈥淥ur faculty are offering high-flex options to ensure that students don鈥檛 miss important instructional content, and staff in other front-line areas continue to support students with food, transportation, replacing lost learning resources, and referrals to community-based organizations.鈥

鈥淲e鈥檝e heard from students and families who, because of power outages, have lost the food they had frozen for the winter,鈥 said Amy Greear, VP of Institutional Advancement at Mountain Empire 红杏直播app College. 鈥淔or many, that loss is an enormous issue.鈥

How to help:

The (VFCCE) is seeking resources to help. The Emergency Fund for 红杏直播app Colleges of Southwest 红杏直播app will collect donations and then distribute them to the five colleges, who have on-the-ground knowledge of local needs.

An early assessment from those colleges identifies an urgent need for funds for food, gas, temporary housing, and replacement of damaged instructional materials like textbooks and laptops.

鈥淪ome students and families have lost everything, yet many of our students are determined to go back to college,鈥 said VFCCE Executive Director Jennifer Gentry. 鈥淲e鈥檙e so grateful to our colleges who are assisting in so many ways. We have an opportunity to help them and help our fellow-红杏直播appns.鈥

鈥淩esponding to the needs of our communities is in the best traditions of our community colleges and embodies our determination to do more to help students during emergencies, one of the goals we set in our new system-wide strategic plan,鈥 said VCCS Chancellor David Dore. 鈥淚 hope our colleagues statewide will offer a helping hand at this time of need.鈥

The VFCCE set up a fast and easy way to contribute to the emergency fund online.聽 You can find out more .

Meanwhile, 红杏直播app Governor Glenn Younkin gives federal officials credit for quickly declaring disaster relief for Southwestern 红杏直播app. 鈥淎t the state and local level, we will remain continually engaged to ensure 红杏直播appns get the support and help that they need in the aftermath of this powerful storm,鈥 said Youngkin. 鈥淚 am proud of 红杏直播app first responders for their assistance, the grit and resilience of 红杏直播appns and together, we will get through this.鈥澛犅 Learn more about how multiple agencies are .

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