NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University students are doing their part to help residents of the Carolinas as they begin cleanup in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. Dr. Curt Phifer, professor of biology in the Louisiana Scholars’ College, is spearheading efforts to collect supplies for cleanup buckets that will be transported to affected disaster areas through the United Methodist Center on Relief (UMCOR), located in Baldwin.
“We’re asking every RSO [Registered Student Organization] at NSU, service organizations, fraternities, sororities, honor societies, religious groups, to put together at least one Cleaning Bucket of supplies. SGA [Student Government Association] has bought the empty buckets and will deliver them to the shipping site,” Phifer said.
Buckets are available to each organization in the SGA office on the first floor of the Student Union. Each bucket has a list of specific items and how to assemble the bucket. Assembled buckets can be returned to the SGA office by 4:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 24. They will be loaded on a truck Tuesday
“Many NSU students have expressed an interest in helping the people in North and South Carolina who have been affected by Hurricane Florence,” Phifer said. “After hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Harvey, and extreme flooding in the Baton Rouge-Denham Springs area, all of us have been affected personally or have friends and family who know what it’s like to see your home destroyed or damaged.”
More information on UMCOR and specific items needed for cleaning kits is available at https://www.umcor.org/UMCOR/Relief-Supplies/Relief-Supply-Kits/Cleaning. Phifer can be reached at (318) 357-4588 or phifer@nsula.edu
