Sept. 24-29, 2024, Hurricane Helene impacted Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, parts of Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. Western North Carolina braved the hardest of the storm, leaving thousands missing, displaced and without power.
Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, was affected by flooded campus buildings and student housing– including sorority and fraternity housing.
While sorority and fraternity inter/national organizations offer disaster relief grants, Appalachian State’s College Panhellenic Council and Interfraternal Council (IFC) banded together to take immediate action. To support their displaced brothers and sisters, chapters created GoFundMes to fundraise to rebuild their homes.
After spreading these donation links across their Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL), Panhellenic and IFC social media platforms, their efforts “gained traction.”
But their hurricane relief efforts stretched far beyond fraternity and sorority life. Some chapters that surpassed their fundraising goal vowed to donate the extra money to local emergency services.
To support the Boone community, each of Appalachian State’s nine sorority organizations dedicated fundraising efforts toward one nonprofit that aided recovery. They helped local businesses who suffered physical damages or financial hardship from the storm.
One way they raised money was by designing t-shirts that said “Hope for the High Country,” with 10% of sales donated to the Red Cross.
Combining all three fundraising options, Panhellenic and IFC raised over $45,000 for the community. But, the Appalachian State sorority community didn’t stop after hitting their fundraising goals. They started a toy drive, providing donated gifts to families who may be struggling this holiday season or to children who lost their toys in the flood.
Appalachian State Panhellenic President Madi Breedlove believes her college’s Panhellenic and IFC were “a vessel for people to help.” Sisters took the initiative to volunteer in the community, “Our girls were everywhere,” Breedlove said. “They were at all the donation hubs. They were sorting supplies, unloading them from cars from people who were driving donations up, and they were doing street clean-ups and advocating for the administration and the university.”
As a senior, Breedlove was reminded by their compassion why she wanted to continue her involvement in fraternity and sorority life post-graduation.
“This is nothing new to me the way that Panhellenic shows up for the community and each other,” Breedlove said. “I’ve seen it before, it’s a beautiful thing. It’s why I’m pursuing a career in higher education and student affairs, specifically FSL because I love to see the way young women and young men rally behind each other when they really don’t have to.”
To donate to Appalachian State’s fundraiser, CLICK HERE. If you or someone you know has been affected by Hurricane Helene, CLICK HERE for additional resources.
