What follows is a summary of information provided to the DTAE Communications Office by 24 of the state’s technical colleges (as well as Central Office) regarding the agency-wide efforts to assist our Gulf Coast neighbors with recovery from the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Every attempt has been made to include excerpts from all of the information submitted, but efforts are ongoing on every campus throughout the state and some may have been too busy with their efforts to report their work for inclusion here. There is also no way to include the thousands of employees and their families throughout DTAE who have acted on their own and quietly offered their time, money, supplies and prayers for those most affected by the disaster.

The response of not only the entire agency but the students and the college communities, too, has been phenomenal. Thanks to everyone for your hard work and tireless efforts!

Albany Technical College held a drive to collect food, utensils and personal items, while the Healthcare Technology Program collected bandages, antibiotic creams, pain relievers and more for relief kits. The college also held a campus yard sale with all proceeds donated to the relief efforts. The Cosmetology Department at ATC also offered free hair and nail services to evacuees who are living in the Albany area.

At Appalachian Technical College, money was collected for the relief organizations in a “Coins for Caring” drive. Faculty, staff and students also collected food, clothing, water, toys and toiletry items with an estimated worth of $6500 and gave that donation to the Gilmer County Lions Club. Appalachian also provided assistance to evacuees who were relocated to the Salvation Army’s Camp Grand View in Pickens County. Part of that assistance included holding a job fair on campus with the Department of Labor.

At Athens Technical College, special efforts were made to help animal rescue groups in Louisiana. Dr. Carole Miller, the director of the Veterinary Technology program at ATC and two of her veterinary students took cash donations raised by ATC faculty, staff and students, as well as a full load of donated pet supplies to an animal rescue site near Baton Rouge. The team from ATC has been working with others to process and care for dogs, cats and other animals rescued from the flooded areas in and around New Orleans. The ATC Student Activities Council donated $400 to pay for the cost of the trip while staff and students raised another $1,400 for the Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association. Phi Theta Kappa also raised almost $1,700 to give to the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

Atlanta Technical College raised money to purchase gift cards for the relatives of faculty, staff and students affected by the disaster. Students from Atlanta Tech’s
Culinary Arts program also prepared a feast for evacuees who were housed at the city’s Adamsville shelter.

Members of the Augusta Technical College family donated and collected more than $3600 for the disaster relief programs. The Cosmetology Department at Augusta Tech also opened their doors for evacuees wishing to use their services free of charge.

Central Georgia Technical College partnered with Goodwill Industries of Macon for a week-long clothing drive. Goods collected at the main campus and at four other sites helped to replenish items that Goodwill is distributing to victims of Katrina.

At the DTAE Central Office, staff worked drives to collect pillows, blankets, sheets and towels for local shelters. Phil Petty coordinated the agency-wide Operation Clean Water, and soon six tractor-trailers from the colleges with be hauling full loads of bottled water to two destinations in Mississippi and another location in Louisiana. A number of Central Office staff also answered Governor Perdue’s call to assist the Red Cross and spent their weekend working at the disaster relief supercenter in south Atlanta.

Staff and faculty at Coosa Valley Technical College volunteered to clean and furnish a house on campus that’s now a residence for a family of six who lost everything to Katrina. Donations were also collected on CVTC’s three campuses and the proceeds given to the Red Cross. Leif Penrose, Director of the Ultrasound Program at CVTC, traveled to Mississippi with others from his church to assist with the home repair and debris removal. Ronnie Wallace, who’s not only the Director of CVTC’s Business Expansion Center but also Rome’s mayor, helped to direct the RomeKares relief effort throughout Floyd County. Several CVTC employees volunteered their time, money, furniture and more to that effort. And Bill Byars, CVTC’s Director of Security, is a certified Red Cross disaster service volunteer who devoted more than two weeks to the effort.

The DeKalb Technical College faculty, staff and students found a number of ways to help with the relief. Together, the DTC family donated more than $2500 in cash and loads of clothing, food, water, pet supplies, and other items to the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Noah’s Wish (pet rescue), and other relief organizations. Students at one DTC center held a raffle and donated those proceeds to the Red Cross. Staff at DeKalb also reached into their own pockets to pay for an evacuee to take the GED test. DTC’s Cosmetology Program offered their services to the evacuees, and faculty and students from the Ophthalmic Program are partnering with the Georgia Lions Club to help Katrina victims with their eyeglass needs. DTC staff also reached out to evacuees who were temporarily housed at the FFA camp in Covington, offering everything from health services and counseling to information on enrolling at DTC. And a large number of DTC staff and faculty volunteered countless hours to various churches and relief organizations.

Instructors from the Commercial Truck Driving program at Flint River Technical College traveled to a FEMA distribution center in Jackson, Mississippi with 4,000 gallons of water. Faculty, staff and students from FRTC led a call for help to area churches, civic clubs, businesses and individuals that completely filled one of the college’s tractor-trailers with cases of donated bottled water.

Gwinnett Technical College collected truckloads of food, clothing, and for the Salvation Army in Lawrenceville. Staff from GTC has also donated their time for shifts to help evacuees seeking assistance at the Red Cross “relief supercenter” in Lawrenceville. GTC is also making a special effort to provide assistance to staff and students who had families who lived in the devastated areas.

Heart of Georgia Technical College partnered with the local Jaycees, the Red Cross and local businesses to collect and haul relief goods, food and water to Gulfport, Mississippi. What started as an effort to fill one HGTC freight trailer soon filled three trailers, and faculty from the CDL Program at HGTC made the haul to Gulfport. All told, more than 100,000 pounds of relief supplies made its way to some of the hardest-hit areas, including distribution points that were completely out of food and water when the HGTC trucks arrived.

Lanier Technical College students, faculty and staff launched “Operation Backpack,” assembling backpacks with personal items as well as school supplies for children in a Red Cross shelter for Katrina evacuees in Putnam County. LTC also offered support for several staff and faculty members who have relatives in the disaster area.

At Middle Georgia Technical College, the Student Council donated $5,000 of their student funds to the Red Cross. A collection among faculty and staff added to that sum. MGTC also solicited their area to participate in Operation Clean Water and plans to use one of its CDL trucks to deliver the water to Mississippi.

Moultrie Technical College raised funds for the Red Cross through faculty, staff and student contributions on each of its four campuses. College employees were also free to use work hours to assist with meeting the needs of hundreds of evacuees who were given shelter at the Georgia Baptist Assembly in Norman Park.

The Collins Lodge at North Georgia Technical College is being used as long-term housing for a family of Katrina evacuees. NGTC has also hired two evacuees with teaching experience as adjunct instructors. Collection points for relief goods were established on three NGTC campuses and trucks from the CDL program have loaded more than 12,000 bottles of water along with food, baby items, batteries, pillows and more for transport to the storm victims. Faculty and senior nursing students from NGTC have contacted their counterparts in Mississippi and are on standby if a call comes asking for their help. Instructors from NGTC’s Air Conditioning, Electrical, and Welding Programs have also offered their assistance. Next week, a work team from NGTC will head to Mississippi for four days of labor that’s being coordinated through the Baptist churches, the Episcopal Diocese and the Lutheran churches in Mississippi.

The Student Leadership Council at North Metro Technical College voted to donate $10,000 from their fall festival fund to go to the relief organizations. Faculty, staff and students also held a rally on campus to collect food, cash and clothing to help to replenish the shelves at the Bartow County Food Bank. Trucks from NMTC’s CDL program are also doing their share to haul water and other goods to the affected areas.

A “Wing Fling” benefit was held at Ogeechee Technical College. The proceeds from the sale of chicken wings and desserts made by the culinary arts students and staff, as well as other goods donated by local businesses, raised more than $1000 to help the American Diabetes Association and their effort to send diabetes supplies to the devastated region. Students and staff from OTC also collected cash donations. In addition, OTC was a collection point for funeral supplies that were needed in the wake of the disaster.

A truck from Okefenokee Technical College delivered over 700 cases of bottled water to Collins, Mississippi. The water was collected as collected at several state technical colleges including OTC as part of DTAE’s statewide “Operation Clean Water.”

Two displaced families are being housed in the dorms at South Georgia Technical College, and two of the adults are now working at the college. Members of the SGTC family have also provided clothing and financial assistance to the families. SGTC also loaned some of its mattresses to a local church that set up temporary housing for the evacuees.

Southeastern Technical College provided a drop-off location for donated goods and partnered with a local business to provide a truck to transport the items that were collected. The drive was so successful that it expanded to three trucks and SETC collected more than $10,000 in donations.

Southwest Georgia Technical College collected $1,600 for the Red Cross and is also involved in a unique effort by the local community involving mobile homes that have been ordered by FEMA to provide temporary housing for families who lost all to the storm. Stewart Park Mobile Homes are manufactured in Thomasville, and the plan is to fully stock each home with donated supplies. Faculty, staff and students at SWGTC have committed to the responsibility for stocking at least 10 of those homes.

At Swainsboro Technical College, faculty, staff and students have provided more than $1000 worth of gift cards, clothing and non-perishables to evacuees. Staff at STC also collected cash and baby items for the New Orleans family of the son of a former instructor.

Valdosta Technical College teamed with the Salvation Army, Lowe’s and Best Buy to collect three trailer loads of water, food, pet supplies and more to send to distribution points in Mobile, Alabama and Biloxi, Mississippi. Instructors from VTC’s commercial truck driving program drove the shipment to the devastated area. A Salvation Army captain in Mississippi told the Valdosta Daily News that two of the Valdosta Tech trucks arrived just as his supplies were dwindling to nothing and things were “looking grim.”

West Central Technical College participated in the Southwire Company’s disaster relief drive, collecting food, water, clothing and other needed supplies. The Student Activities Council at WCTC donated $2,000 of their funds to the Red Cross and Salvation Army, and the president’s office matched their offer. An anonymous donor from Carroll County then agreed to match that combined donation, bringing the total amount given to more than $4,000. WCTC has also collected a separate cash donation for a farm family in Carroll County whose father was killed and their home and chicken houses destroyed by a tornado that was spawned as Katrina moved inland.