With tears streaming down her face, she said, “I’m so very grateful, you just don’t know what this means”

The people of Virginia's Community Colleges statewide have risen to the occasion after remnants of Hurricane Helene drenched Southwest Virginia in late September, causing widespread devastation and loss of power. Thanks to donations, community colleges in the region have been able to distribute more than 100 gift cards for groceries and other aid to students, employees, and community members who lost so much in the storm and floods. The Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE) created an emergency fund that so far has raised more than $238,000 to help our colleges who bore the brunt of the storm in Southwest Virginia.

Mountain Empire, Southwest Virginia, Wytheville, Virginia Highlands and New River Community Colleges avoided major damage on campus, but students and employees suffered major losses due to storm damage and long power outages. Recovery will likely take months or even years. And funds raised by the VFCCE and provided to the colleges will help storm victims re-stock their kitchens and provide basic necessities and replace lost educational items.

"Thanks to generous support from colleagues across the state, we distributed funding to the five colleges impacted by Hurricane Helene in early October," said Dr. Jennifer Gentry, Vice Chancellor of Institutional Advancement and Exec. Director of the VFCCE.

Gentry made it clear that the foundation will continue to collect and channel donations to impacted colleges. "Students and their families in these communities will be rebuilding their lives and homes for a long time, and we will continue to support them through the Emergency Fund for Southwest Virginia Community Colleges."

How donations have made a difference:

"I want to express our sincere appreciation for the help," said Amy Greear, Mountain Empire's VP for Institutional Advancement. "We simply could not have raised these funds on our own at this point in time with all the need in our region. State foundation support has made a profound difference."

As distraught students converged on Mountain Empire Community College after the storm, MECC administrative assistant Denise Collins reported, "Today is another day that reminds why I love MECC so much. A student just came by our office in search of help. When we were able to provide gift cards for groceries, she looked up at me and could barely speak. With tears streaming down her face, she said, 'I'm so very grateful, you just don't know what this means,' She said 'thank you' again as she left, still crying."

Susan Lowe, VP for Institutional Advancement at Southwest Virginia Community College said, "I Just want to thank everyone for your kindness and support and let our colleagues statewide know that the need was great and the impact of your generosity was truly felt."

SWCC staged a hurricane relief event on campus on Oct 18, offering hot dogs and flu shots in addition to giving away bottled water, food, cleaning supplies, gas cans, buckets, baby formula, bedding and more. About 200 people slammed by Helene's aftermath turned out and were able to receive items they desperately needed.

Lowe recounted the story of one of the people who came to SWCC that day, seeking help. "She was so happy to receive the $250 Food City card that she cried for several minutes. She told me that they had been living in between homes for the past few weeks and had finally gotten into a trailer on Monday. Each night since that time, she had fed her four children ramen noodles and she woke up that morning and wondered 'what will I feed them today - we are out of ramen noodles and I don't have enough money to buy anything.'"

Virginia Highlands VP for Institutional Advancement Laura Pennington reports VHCC's service area was materially impacted by Hurricane Helene including record flooding, high wind damage, and infrastructure destruction. The initial response by VHCC to support students and employees in the days immediately following the storm included the College being partially open for people who needed internet/computer access - or just a place to rest, recharge devices, and support each other while enjoying warm coffee and snacks. The College's food pantry was also open to help students and employees have access to food to replace what was lost in the storm.

"Stories continue to emerge of students and employees having a loss of or damage to homes, vehicles, belongings, and learning resources like laptops, textbooks, etc.," said Pennington. "As a special additional support, Porter, our therapy dog was on campus to offer warm snuggles, a fluffy head to pet, and even a puppy-kiss or two," she added.

New River Community College's Campus Cupboard student food pantry provided water, food, and other personal care items to students who were affected by the storm. On October 1, five students from NRCC's Access to Community College Education (ACCE) scholars traveled to Giles County to assist in post-storm cleanup efforts. The volunteers focused on clearing debris and going through storm-damaged items.

"Our immediate goal, of course, was to get our students the resources they need to be able to take care of their basic living necessities," said Wytheville Community College President Dean Sprinkle. "With a large rural service region like ours, our students often face challenges traveling to get to campus during non-emergency times. Current circumstances just exacerbate these challenges."

"We are also assessing those students' temporary housing needs and helping them to connect with other community support organizations," said WCC Dean of Student Success Renee Thomas. "Students need help finding those contacts and completing forms. We have set up an emergency aid application that we made available to WCC students."

To learn more or make donations, please visit: https://vfcce.org/

Editor's note: Our colleges not in the immediate storm zone also have stepped up to offer their help. We'll add to the list below as we continue to learn of their efforts.

Central Virginia student organizations hosted a Soup/Chili Cook Off with the proceeds going to hurricane relief efforts. Fourteen faculty and staff members brought out their best soup and chili recipes to serve at the event, which raised more than $500, and donations were still coming in.

Patrick & Henry turned a women's volleyball tournament into a benefit event, collecting goods to donate to North Carolina college students who were displaced by widespread damage there.

Laurel Ridge partnered with the Red Cross to hold a blood drive, collecting 26 units of blood for storm disaster assistance. Student ambassadors helped check-in donors. The drive was on October 7.

Mountain Gateway's Nursing Students' Association (NSA) stepped up to sponsor a donation drive for hurricane relief efforts. Donated supplies were delivered by the Raphine Fire Department to those in need.

The VCCS System Office devoted proceeds from its annual autumn cupcake/chili cookoff to the

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.