Troy University Students Lending A Hand in Hurricane Michael Relief
Troy University students are coming together to help fellow classmates whose homes were destroyed during Hurricane Michael. Student Kristen Humphries is from Panama City, Florida, and she recalls just how scary last Wednesday was.
“I didn’t hear from my family until probably about three hours later. It was like 4 o’clock, my sister called me.”
When the storm was over, Humphries says her family was okay, but the damage left behind in her community was devastating.
“Imagine waking up and not having anything to your name. And everything that you had, like all the memories and stuff that you’ve saved up, it was just completely gone,” Humphries said.
Since the storm, Troy students are coming together to help their fellow Trojans in need. Different organizations and athletic departments have offered their services to help with donations.
“We’re collecting a bunch of supplies and stuff from organizations on campus and individuals who wanted to donate on campus, and really what we’re doing is enabling people to go down there,” Student Government Association Vice President of Campus Activities Morgan Long said.
Long says he’s already seen a huge response from the Troy community in its giving. Those donations will taken on an upcoming trip this Saturday to Panama city. Students will be helping the cleanup efforts.
“The biggest thing is just, you know, do what you can. We need people to step up, and you know, maybe, we wanna challenge people to give outside your comfort zone,” Long said.
Humphries says any giving or effort made will not go unnoticed.
“If its just passing out stuff and they feel like they aren’t like movin a lot of heavy lifting, they’re still having a great impact on everyone in the community,” Humphries said.
Around 60 Troy students and faculty students will head to Panama City this weekend. If you’re interested in donating or helping their cause, you can drop off items in Troy University’s SGA Office, Trojan Center 215 by Thursday, October 18th at noon. You can also donate to their GoFundMe account here.
Troy Cable officers are also collecting non-perishable food items to take to disaster victims on Florida’s coast. Collection sites are:
Troy- 1006 S. Brundidge St.
Ozark- 1298 Andrews Ave.
Enterprise- 106 N. Edwards. St.
These are the items that would be the most helpful to donate:
– Portable phone charger
– Batteries, AA, AAA
– Bottled water
– Gallons of water
– Toiletries (travel size shampoo and conditioner, body wash, shaving razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc).
– Utility Gloves
– Diapers
– Baby wipes
– Baby food
– Sleeping bags
– Dog food
– Cat food
– Protein bars/ Snack Bars
– Trash bags
– Feminine Products
– First Aid items (bandages, antiseptic wipes, adhesive tape, gauze, etc).
– Masks
– Gatorade
