The university has started raising money to fund upcoming service trips to eastern North Carolina to help communities impacted by the hurricane. Details about how to donate are included in this note.
Elon’s effort to collect food and other supplies for those displaced from their homes by Hurricane Florence is expanding as the university prepares to welcome thousands to campus for Family Weekend.
The university has also launched a special fundraising drive to help support Elon service trips to communities in eastern North Carolina that have been devastated by the hurricane. Contributions to that fund will be managed by the Kernodle Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement.
>> CLICK HERE TO MAKE AN ONLINE CONTRIBUTION TO ELON’S HURRICANE RECOVERY EFFORTS.
Visitors will also be able to contribute during Family Weekend registration in the Koury Athletic Center from 2 to 6 p.m.
Mary Morrison, director of the Kernodle Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement, said that the Center is in regular contact with their counterparts at universities in eastern North Carolina — East Carolina University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Campbell University and Fayetteville State University — to determine the best way to support their local recovery efforts.
The Kernodle Center is planning to organize several “Service Saturdays” this fall in the communities where those universities are located. It will take time to determine what the needs are and how students, faculty and staff who volunteer to help on those trips can put their time and talents to best use.
“We will join with them in their communities to address what needs there are,” Morrison said.
Partnering with the universities will provide the opportunity to tap into the longstanding relationships the universities have with their own community organizations, Morrison said. “We want to be able to work with our partners and engage in direct service to those communities,” she said.
The new fundraising drive to support these disaster relief service opportunities will help offset the costs of transportation, food, supplies and possibly housing (for multi-day trips).
More details will be available on the Kernodle Center’s website once service trips to eastern North Carolina are organized.
For those looking to support efforts here in Alamance County to assist those displaced by the hurricane, the Kernodle Center will be collecting donations during registration for Family weekend on Friday. The center will have a table at the registration station in the Koury Athletic Center from 2 to 6 p.m., with Elon Volunteers! and the Student Government Association assisting with the collection.
The effort is focused on nonperishable food, personal hygiene items, cleaning supplies and paper goods that will help stock the pantries of Allied Churches of Alamance County and the Salvation Army of Alamance County. These local organizations have responded in the wake of Hurricane Florence to shelter and serve individuals who evacuated from eastern North Carolina and relocated to Alamance County.
Needed items include:
Food items
- Soups and chili
- Beans (lima, baked, pinto)
- Macaroni and cheese, pasta and sauce
- Canned vegetable and fruit
- Protein bars
- Peanut butter
- Dry cereal/granola
- Dried fruit
- Canned meats – tuna, Vienna sausages, SPAM, etc.
- Nonperishable pasteurized milk
- Formula for infants
- Baby food/snacks
- Bottled water
Hygiene Items
- Toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash
- Pillows, blankets, sleeping bags
- Towels and washcloths
- Soap, shampoo, conditioners, body wash
- Deodorant, feminine hygiene products
- First-aid kit supplies
The university is also encouraging financial contributions to relief organizations that specialize in assistance for immediate relief. The website for National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster provides a list of agencies involved in relief and recovery efforts, including donation links for those groups. Additionally, gifts to the Elon University Chaplain’s Discretionary Fund are used to support those in the Elon community who are adversely affected by tragic circumstances such as natural disasters.