Another source of donations is available to communities impacted by last month’s flooding. Shaping Our Appalachian Region created the Eastern Kentucky Student Support Fund to help K-12 schools and students recover and start the new academic year in better shape.
Colby Hall is the Executive Director of SOAR. Hall said a lot of students were already behind in school due to the pandemic.
“And it really, it really broke our hearts to think about the fact that this flood, these floods, probably could have set them back further. Right. And these are our future workforce. These are future residents. I mean, this is really the future of, of a region that is as has been declining in population,” said Hall.
Hall said the fund has already raised $60,000. SOAR is working with school resource centers to determine where the needs are.
“So if a Resource Center calls us and say, hey, this is a real need, and this is gonna help this, the student returned to normal. We're gonna say, yeah, here, here you go. And whatever we need to do. So that's kind of the idea around it,” said Hall.
Hall said schools can use the funds to purchase school supplies and equipment as well as help individual families with beds, appliances or other needs.
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