The Spring Hill College community has come together to give support to people affected by recent hurricanes that affected Texas and Florida.
Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on countless cities upon its landfall. Houston, Texas suffered the most significant amount of damage from this storm, and has now become victim to structural damage to the city. As reported by Fox News, the “fourth-largest city sank about three-quarters of an inch under the heavy weight of Harvey waters.” Chris Milliner, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech, shared this information with Fox after seeing Harvey’s destruction via GPS. After the devastating toll this storm took on the city of Houston, people all over the country including students from Spring Hill College began making efforts to help those in need.
The Student Government Association at Spring Hill College has taken action to help those directly affected by Hurricane Harvey. In collaboration with the Advancement/Alumni Relations, the SGA is starting a fund known as Badgers United that will sponsor a service trip to Houston to help those in need. The proceeds collected by this fund will not be limited to Houston alone, but other cities affected by disaster as well. “Watching the Spring Hill community come together with not only those on campus, but off campus as well to contribute to these relief efforts has been such an honor,” says Eleanor Seiter, President of the Student Government Association.
To raise awareness and funds from students on campus, SGA has partnered with Public Safety to host a fundraiser known as “Home Runs for Harvey.” This fundraiser will take place on Saturday, Sept. 16, at Dorn Field. Schoolwide participation is highly encouraged and all proceeds collected from those participating will be donated to Badgers United to fund those traveling to Houston. Students and organizations on campus can create teams to play in the fundraiser, and all can join Public Safety for a cookout during the entire event. Todd Warren, Director of Public Safety, says, “We are 100% supporting this event by providing the cookout services.” Warren will be joined by four of his officers to assist in the cookout.
In addition to the efforts being made by the SGA on campus, the Business, Society, and Sustainability Class (BUS220C) hosted a food drive called, “Houston, We Have An Answer.” Canned goods were collected around campus and loaded onto an 18-wheeler and Veterans of America carried the goods to Houston. Along the way, Loyola University New Orleans added to the drive by collecting and donating cans on their campus as well.
Directly after Harvey’s hit, Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida. Hurricane Irma was a category four storm upon landfall, and according to CBS News, “Nearly 7 million people in the Southeast were warned to evacuate, including 6.4 million in Florida alone.” With this many evacuees, Spring Hill College rose to the call for assistance.
Students at Spring Hill College have welcomed over 50 student-athletes, coaching staff, and family members from the Florida State University volleyball, swim and dive teams, according to AL.com. Ashley Rains, a spokeswoman for Spring Hill College told AL.com, “students jumped at the opportunity to welcome visitors to the campus.” Rains also stated that students on campus washed linens, made welcome signs and are accommodating these evacuees to make them feel as comfortable as possible during this tragic time.