Central Office administrators will be in the car rider line of each school Thursday and Friday of this week as well as Monday, October 1.
They will have donation buckets on hand and any money you wish to donate can be dropped off by students prior to entering the buildings. If you would rather donate online please click here to donate directly to Craven County Schools.
Thank you for continuing to help our students see the importance of serving those in need!
Please stay tuned as more plans and ways to help become clear. Our students and staff have expressed interest in helping and we will communicate their plans as they become formalized.
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The principal of Havelock Middle School has sent us the pictures you see along with the following information.
Specifically, we have 42 students that have lost their homes entirely and another 59 students that have lost all of their personal belongings. One home burnt to the ground during the storm, 102 homes were flooded, with 41 being catastrophically flooded. Outside of the 102, nearly all 412 students faced displacement from their homes for a week or more. This has brought about great financial strain as 62 percent of our students are already severely economically disadvantaged, and then they had to spend their limited funds on shelter or travel. The power was out in our area for nearly two weeks, which lead to the majority of students’ families losing all of their groceries and stored supplies due to the lack of refrigeration and home leaks caused by fallen trees and wind damage. Trees caused significantly more damage in this area than did any other single contributor due to the tornadoes that were widespread during the storm. Most families lost their washers and dryers and are now utilizing the laundry mat, where I now go to give out supplies and check on their well being. When speaking with these families, there was a great concern, and thereby, a great need for book bags, notebooks, and pencils. We are a 1-to-1 school with iPads so many of the children I spoke to today also brought up that their ear buds and stylus pens that we use in classes every day also need to be replaced. Additionally, all 102 students are in need of clothes and tennis shoes, yet I expect that number to grow substantially as time progresses.
While the damage was life changing, most of our faculty and children have been involved daily in the clean up and repair of our community. We are proudly heroes, our school's Motto, as we go from home to home in an effort to remove trees, clean up from flooding, and providing two meals a day door to door. These are not students that are simply standing by as the disaster strikes, they are taking their community into their young hands to become something greater. Any help anyone can give will be greatly appreciated because many of these children now call shelters homes, even as they work to help others.
These are some of the work photos, the damaged houses, the flood, and a look at who we were before the storm and who we will be afterward.