News
Tennessee Tech providing assistance to flood-ravaged areas
Tennessee Tech is providing support and assistance to students and others from the flood ravaged areas of Waverly, Humphreys County, Hickman County and surrounding areas.
Don Sowers and Michelle Huddleston are co-representatives of Tennessee Tech with the Tennessee Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. Sowers is in Waverly now.
“Don is on the ground now, helping to set up the volunteer central,” said Huddleston, who serves as assistant director for service learning and community engagement at the Tech University Services Center. “Don is an adjunct professor for the College of Interdisciplinary Studies. He is a former Emergency Management Agency deputy director, former deputy district attorney, former police officer and detective and has been trained in disaster response and relief for many years.”
Requests have been made by the Red Cross to Tennessee Tech for nursing students to volunteer to help with setting up shelters and other needs. Tech communications majors who would like to volunteer in the Humphreys County police department call center are asked to email volunteer@tntech.edu. The deputy director is hoping to add at least three extra people per shift.
Volunteers are needed for general manual labor and clean up, mostly of debris at this point. The work day is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and volunteers are encouraged to dress for hot weather and bring a sack lunch if possible. The meeting point is the Waverly Dollar Tree parking lot, 515 West Main Street, Waverly, TN 37185.
If you’re unable to do manual labor but would still like to help you can volunteer with Mercy Chef, feeding volunteers and victims. That need begins immediately. Contact volunteer@tntech.edu.
There are 36 Tennessee Tech students from the impacted area. Each student is being contacted by the Dean of Students office to assess needs and work to get assistance to families affected by the flood.
Students in need of assistance from the area are asked to contact Michelle Huddleston at mdhuddleston@tntech.edu.
