Students help those devastated by tornado
Three Eastern students want to help students in Tennessee who lost everything when a tornado tore through Jackson, Tenn. on Feb. 5.
Tornadoes took the lives of 55 people in four states on that day.
Union University, in Jackson, was hit especially hard.
Tim Cocagne, a music performance major, wants to help the students of Union University.
Cocagne and others will be collecting donated items such as clothing, sheets, pillows, shampoo, toothpaste, school supplies, and nonperishable food items to aid the students who lost their home.
“What if this happened to Eastern?” Cocagne said. “I know we would get support from other universities, so we need to be willing to help as well.”
Ashley Hubbard, a Union student and Effingham resident, is a friend of Cocagne and relayed the stories of fear and grieving from her damaged school.
Cocagne told the story to Amanda Raz, a special education major, and Rich Higginbotham, student vice president for student affairs.
Those three decided they were obligated as college students to help other college students and expand upon their current One Campus, One Community obligations.
“Hopefully with students going home for a three-day weekend many will return with stuff from home to donate,” Raz said.
With little time to spare, the three students have been visiting registered student organizations and presenting their cause to other student leaders.
Higginbotham told members of the Student Senate during Wednesday’s meeting about the donation drive. Raz said the Residence Hall Association will post fliers on all floors of each residence hall on campus.
Raz, Cocagne and Higginbotham said they want to give Union students the living necessities they lost in the tornado. They hope the donations will make being displaced from their former homes a little easier.
Several members of the One Campus, One Community project will drop off donation bags on doorsteps of Charleston residents at 8 a.m today.
The group will accept donations until 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Hubbard will then drive the items to Union in a rented U-hall truck paid for by donations from the Effingham community.
Many Union students are currently displaced.
About 40 percent of Union University residence halls were completely destroyed and another 40 percent were severely damaged, Cocagne said.
Because of unforeseen events since the incident, the damage has worsened, according to Tim Ellsworth, director of News and Media Relations at Union University.
“We’re in the process of demolishing two complexes,” Ellsworth said. “They’re now a total loss.”
About two-thirds of campus housing at Union Universty has been lost and 700 students have been displaced. However, there was no loss of life on campus.
“It’s nothing short of a miracle, especially after seeing what happened to our campus,” Ellsworth said.
Classes at Union will resume on Feb. 20, according to Ellsworth.
“The loss of classroom space has not been as (devastating),” Ellsworth said. “There is a church that owns a local hotel and they have turned control of it to us until December for us to house about 200 students.”
Some students will be relocated to operational residence halls. Other students will lease apartments in town and about 250 students will stay with faculty and staff, Ellsworth said.
Rick Kambic can be reached at 581-7942 or at rwkambic@eiu.edu.
Students help those devastated by tornado
Mike Evans, RA in McAfee, and Nathan Young, help carry down things from Duesner, a building in the Watters complex at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. (Submitted photo by Kristi McMurry)
