In the wake of Hurricane Helene, one University of Delaware professor swapped his teachings for a student-run campaign supporting disaster relief efforts.
Anna Gleason, 21, and Riley Wren, 22, are both seniors at UD taking a PR writing course taught by Steve Momorella. When they got to class on Sept. 30, mere days after Hurricane Helene made landfall and brought death and destruction across the southeastern United States, their professor told them he had a change of plans for the week’s work.
Instead of continuing with their curriculum, Momorella divided his class into two groups, each picking an organization in Asheville, North Carolina, and creating a campaign supporting their hurricane aid.
Momorella is a former high school sports coach who has players now attending Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina, about two hours away from Asheville. When they reached out to say they were safe and updated him on the devastation surrounding them, Momorella wanted to do something to help, and that’s when he called on his students at UD, Gleason said.
“It’s just so unfathomable,” said Gleason, from South Brunswick, New Jersey. “We’ve been spending the last couple of days doing everything that we can to kind of rally all of the UD community behind this cause.”
Gleason and Wren, who are on the same team, chose BeLoved Asheville as their organization to focus on during their class’s two-week donation campaign. The nonprofit serves the community in various ways, including providing meals to those in need and offering micro-home housing.
Their team has placed donation boxes around campus and is working to put one in the front office of Newark High School. UD’s Panhellenic community, consisting of 12 on-campus sororities, also stepped in, with some sorority chapters planning to station donation boxes at their next member chapter meetings on Oct. 6.
Both women say they purposely put the boxes in places where not just UD students can pitch in, but also where the greater Newark community can lend a helping hand.
“I think our professor making this such a priority has been so inspiring. I’m sure there were other things that he had planned to do this week, but just to scrap that to actually do something in the community rather than just doing class assignments has been really cool to see,” said Wren, who is from Dallas, Pennsylvania.
She adds that this campaign has reminded her that although UD is a large school, the student body often comes together in times of need to support a common goal, making it feel more close-knit.
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The group plans to send out the first box of donated items over the weekend, and they’ve already seen donations and support start rolling in. After the two-week period, donations will still be accepted.
Although it may seem like just another class assignment, the students say that their lives in Newark over the last few years have shown them how meaningful community support is. They hope their donation campaign can share that with those in Asheville.
“We have seen really horrible things happen. This community – UD and the Newark area – has dealt with a lot of tragedy, and we know what it's like to feel like there’s no solution sometimes when senseless things happen,” said Gleason. “One of my favorite things about this school is how strong our community is and support for one another.
“It’s really inspiring to see this support leave the boundaries of our campus and of our immediate area and kind of being used to strengthen other communities that need it more right now.”
How to donate, support BeLoved Asheville
Wren and Gleason are collecting the following items to donate to BeLoved Asheville. Note that these items were selected for ease of delivery by mail:
- Paper towels and other paper products
Donation boxes can be found at Sean’s House at 136 W. Main St. and in the Department of Communication (Room 250) in Pearson Hall at 125 Academy St. in Newark.
If you would like to help Wren and Gleason with their class’s donation effort, individuals or businesses can contact annag@udel.edu.
To donate directly to BeLoved Asheville, donations by mail can be sent to P.O. Box 6386, Asheville, NC 28816. Large items are accepted at 1302 Patton Ave., Asheville, NC 28806. The organization’s donation center is located at 32 Old Charlotte Highway, Asheville, NC 28803. To donate money, BeLoved Asheville accepts payment through the following methods:
- Venmo , at @BeLoved-Asheville
To get in touch with BeLoved Asheville, call (828) 571-0766 or email belovedasheville@gmail.com .
Got a tip or a story idea? Contact Krys'tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 'It's just so unfathomable': UD students rally support for Helene relief efforts
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