NC State student organizations and campus partners have been working since the aftermath of Hurricane Florence in a variety of ways to help not only students who were affected by the hurricane, but also communities in North Carolina that are still dealing with the impacts of the storm. 

Pack Essentials, an initiative *led by a steering committee of students, faculty and staff, was created for students who are struggling with finding food, housing and financial insecurity. 

“Since the hurricane, most of what’s coming through is hurricane related,” said Mike Giancola, assistant vice provost and Student Ombudsperson. “As I’ve worked to connect with those students and understand those needs, many of them do have financial needs that because of the hurricane, they don’t have access to food, or their parents were supporting them and now their parents can’t support them.”

According to Giancola, Pack Essentials was created to help connect students to resources in a centralized and individualized way. The resources are shared through the Pack Essentials website and cater to the personal needs of students, whether it is their access to resources for food or other career services.

Student Body President Jess Errico, a fifth-year studying aerospace and mechanical engineering, said that Student Government will support student organizations and departments in their efforts to help the larger North Carolina community by being a platform for organizations to communicate their hurricane relief efforts.

“Student Government has primarily operated in a supporting role to other campus partners who are looking to support those affected,” Errico said. “It is important to us that we are looking to help not only those who are affected but specifically, in particular focus and help NC State students who were affected.” 

Since Hurricane Florence, Pack Essentials has been a resource for many students to get the assistance they need because of the impact the storm has had on their lives. Giancola described the process. 

“It used to be that a student would fill out a form for the student emergency fund, and then if they needed other supports, they would fill out other applications,” Giancola said. “Over the summer, we really worked to try to streamline that process. We wanted students to fill out one application and that one application, the Pack Essentials application, would come to me and also Financial Aid and then we work together to determine what the student might be eligible for.” 

The Student Emergency Fund is a large tool for Student Ombuds, as it gives students who need financial assistance, due to emergency situations, up to $500, depending on the need, from individuals that donate to DASA. Giancola said that students are free to reach out to Student Ombuds even if they are uncertain if they will need the resources.

“In some cases, the students just need someone to connect to, to understand their situation,” Giancola said. “So as I go through and find out that they’re not currently experiencing food, housing or financial insecurity, but help them know that they can stay connected to me through the Ombuds because it may be in a month from now when they get a better sense what their family situation is and what they won’t be able to help them with financially.”

Not only are several campus departments working to help students and faculty that were impacted by the hurricane, but student organizations as well as NC State colleges are coming together to support communities that are still undergoing the aftermath of Florence.

The College of Veterinary Medicine has been collecting donations for a Disaster Relief Fund for animals that have been rescued. NC State Athletics will be collecting donations at the football game against Virginia on Saturday. NC State men’s basketball coach Kevin Keatts has pledged to make Primetime with the Pack on Oct. 19 a hurricane relief effort.

Poole College of Management has invited UNC-Wilmington students specifically to come to their Career Fair on Thursday. Brian Newton, director of the Career Development Center for the Poole College of Management, said that the idea of inviting UNC-W students came up when he realized how long students would be off campus. 

“I was thinking about post-hurricane and recovery and thinking about how the UNC-W students have been affected by this storm,” Newton said. “No classes. They had to evacuate campus and if you’re graduating in December or May, the storm impacted your job search. It impacted your career decisions.” 

While students from local universities, such as Shaw University and Meredith College, do attend NC State career events, a career event of this magnitude has never been broadcast to any other specific university.

“Our career events typically are for NC State and Poole students and alumni, but we’ve never invited students [from] another university for our event specifically,” Newton said.

Newton said that he hopes that this is the beginning for UNC-W students to start coming back together as a community. 

Student organizations have also been working on their own relief efforts to help the impacted areas in North Carolina. Sadie Gupton, a fourth-year studying construction engineering and vice president of new member education in Delta Zeta, said that after seeing the effects of Hurricane Florence, they decided to have their service project focus on helping victims. So far, the sorority has raised over $1,800 on Facebook for supplies for those impacted.

“We originally were thinking it would be something like Habitat for Humanity, something local,” Gupton said. “But then, sitting there watching the hurricane on day one, seeing how it ravaged Wilmington and knowing how many both here at State and in our sorority call that home or vacation there, we decided that it would be a great cause.”

According to Gupton, NC State Delta Zeta has also been working with organizations at UNC-W to help get supplies quickly and safely to eastern North Carolina communities. 

“We have also worked with an organization called ‘We Will Rebuild’,” Gupton said. “It’s a student driven organization of UNC-W students who, using their time off from school, have started a drive across the state to get all the [supplies] shipped to Wilmington.”

NC State students and alumni who are interested in learning more about how to help those affected by Hurricane Florence at the university can visit the NC State website. Students who are experiencing challenges due to the storm can also fill out a Pack Essentials application to get in contact with Student Ombuds or view a list of available resources on their website.

*Editor’s Note: This article was updated to accurately reflect the individuals leading ‘Pack Essentials’.