Pirates pitch in following Florence
ECU medical student Holly Pittard unloads water at the Walter B. Jones Center in Greenville.
Days before Hurricane Florence touched land, East Carolina University leaders knew they needed to act.
Instead of waiting for skies to clear, multiple ECU divisions mobilized quickly to direct resources to areas of need inside and outside the university.
Out of the planning process came East Carolina Undaunted, a recovery response team named after the university’s spirit of helping others in the face of great challenges.
The team, directed by Jay Golden, vice chancellor for research, economic development and engagement, began with an operations center that coordinated partnerships across ECU and with civic and community organizations.
“Our university is made of people who have great experience, resources, expertise and energy,” Golden said. “We wanted to offer them a platform with East Carolina Undaunted to share those qualities while letting our students, faculty, staff, community leaders and local organizations know that ECU is here to help in the recovery process.”
In the past, individual ECU divisions, offices and support groups assisted after natural disasters in a one-off nature – filling sandbags, cleaning up debris or offering skills and expertise for recovery research projects. Never before had the university taken coordinated steps to enact a continuous, multiphase recovery plan to leverage assets across North Carolina.
Medical student Hayley Stowe stacks water bottles in Duplin County as part of an ECU relief effort following the hurricane.
East Carolina Undaunted tackled the challenge of hurricane recovery in five phases – during the storm, immediate aftermath, near-term recovery, midrange recovery and longterm recovery.
ECU faculty and staff from information systems, creative services and REDE teamed up to establish the Hurricane Florence recovery website as the storm dropped 6 inches of rain across Pitt County. The site featured hurricane preparation information before the storm hit and nonemergency care and assistance resources during the event.
Afterward, the effort focused on recovery needs. Through the website, those affected by the hurricane were able to request nonemergency assistance. Students, faculty, staff and community members used it to register to volunteer and donate funds to ECU’s Hurricane Florence relief efforts.
Through October, 604 people had offered to help, recording 5,473 volunteer hours. More than $370,131 in financial and in-kind donations have been raised for Hurricane Florence relief.
“Even during the storm our Pirates were willing to put their own needs aside to help others,” said Sharon Paynter, assistant vice chancellor for community engagement and research. “While Greenville and much of Pitt County was fortunate not to feel the full force of Hurricane Florence, ECU was ready to assist those in need.”
Relief drive yields results
Two projects the East Carolina Undaunted team spearheaded were ECU’s relief drive and storm debris removal teams
The relief drive, held in partnership with the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, collected nearly 58,000 pounds of food, water and household goods during its two-week run. The drive received major donations from the University of Houston athletic department, Old Dominion University, Gaston College and Clean the World, a service organization that donated 20,000 hygiene kits to those affected by the storm.
Lt. Chris Sutton of the ECU Police Department unloads donated relief supplies
Combined with other campus relief drives, ECU in total donated 80,366 pounds of goods to the food bank.
“I think the people of Greenville are appreciative of what they’ve been through in the past,” said George Young, eastern regional director for the food bank. “They missed the bullseye of the storm this time, but they realized families and friends in other areas were in need.”
In New Bern, the hurricane damaged more than 5,000 structures and 750 homes. By teaming up with Baptists on Mission, East Carolina Undaunted was able to coordinate cleanup days for individual volunteers and teams. Teams removed debris and cleaned up damaged homes, discarding siding, walls and insulation while helping families deal with mold and other contaminants.
Around the state
Junior business major Davis Basden and Sharon Paynter and Brandon Morrison of the Division of Research, Engagement and Economic Development unload donated food Sept. 18 at the Willis Building. Todd Burdick ’96 of Affinity Group, a Raleigh food marketer, donated the food.
ECU’s hurricane recovery response wasn’t limited to Greenville and New Bern. Additional ECU efforts reached 10 counties in total.
Locally, a relief drive for Duplin County school students, led by the Healthier Lives at School and Beyond Telemedicine Program, collected and distributed more than $7,000 worth of school supplies, baby formula, diapers, water, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene items and individually wrapped snacks.
The ECU Police Department sent officers to assist UNC Pembroke and UNC Wilmington, allowing first responders in those areas to take time off after more than a week of 12-hour shifts.
Efforts also went toward helping those affected by the storm in Robeson County. A group of faculty and student volunteers from the Brody School of Medicine drove a trailer full of donations – estimated at approximately $8,000 – to the region where they stayed overnight and provided medical care to flood victims in shelters. The ECU Department of Anthropology collected goods that were donated to the Lumbee Tribe.
Additionally, 50 ECU students who are either Army National Guard or Reserve members were called to duty during and after Hurricane Florence.
Concert raises $325,000 for storm relief
