As the flood waters continued to recede after October's historic flood, citizen, student and alumni volunteers came out in mass to do all that they can to help the community in a time of disaster. Although classes were canceled for that week, many students were out at several different locations helping to distribute water, food, clothes and other supplies to those affected by the devastating flooding.
Earlier in the week, third-year sociology and Russian student Cory Alpert recruited over 3000 student volunteers when he created USC Flood Relief in coordination with United Way of the Midlands, and has had over 1000 show up on the ground.
The Carolina Homelessness Outreach (CHO) alongside members of Students United Way has organized a drive for clothes, toiletries and food and has been setting boxes up and collecting items from those boxes in Greek houses, dorms, the leadership and service center and Russell House. CHO President and third-year psychology major Arianna Miskin is encouraging more students and organizations to get involved in the drive.
Students and volunteers worked at several locations across Richland County to aid in the relief effort. Rosewood Baptist Church served as a shelter and distribution center for those displaced from their homes. A volunteer and member of Rosewood Baptist, Victoria Halydier, said that she and another volunteer and church member, Jay Couto, had been working and organizing volunteers at the makeshift shelter since Sunday.
“We started as a shelter for displaced people and then we ran out of running water and so they made us move those people and then [we] went to a donation and water distribution center, and now we’re just a water distribution center,” Halydier said.
Halydier said USC students have been a big part of the volunteer effort as a whole, but particularly at their site.
“We’ve had a lot of USC students come over and they’ve helped sort donations, deliver donations to shelters, help unload and load water ... they’ve been a great help,” Halydier said.
Third-year athletic training students Amy Korcsmaros and Hannah Harbold and psychology student Carly Moser were three of the student volunteers at Rosewood Baptist helping distribute water and donations since Tuesday Oct. 6.
“We’re just trying to let the community know, ‘Hey! We’ve got water!” Korcsmaros said.
“I think one day we started with about 150 cases and then by the end of the day we were down to 15 or so, so we’re just waiting on more shipments to come in,” Harbold said.
Many more student volunteers were helping at locations like Dutch Square Mall and the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, where members of United Way and the National Guard delivered numerous pallets of water to volunteers to distribute to the needy. Fourth-year public health major Grace Piatt was happy to give her time to help those in need.
“A lot of us are fortunate enought to not be affected by it ... the community takes us in and a lot of us aren’t from around here. So by them taking us in, we’re giving back to them,” Piatt said.
The relief effort is only continuing to grow as more volunteers and organizations across the state and across the nation are lending a hand in the area. Even other Southeastern Conference schools, like Vanderbilt and LSU, are contributing donations and funds to the relief effort.
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