CCC adopts sister college, holds benefit concert

Cleveland Community College is hosting a benefit concert in conjunction with its annual fall fest to provide assistance to a sister college it adopted following Hurricane Helene.

Yeti Nights Fall Fest & Benefit Concert will be held Thursday in the Petty Amphitheater, with the concert beginning at 5:30 p.m. and the event running from 5 to 8 p.m. All of the funds raised will go to support people in Western North Carolina impacted by the hurricane.

The concert is free, but attendees are asked for donations of any amount.

Paula Vess, communications and public relations coordinator, said at the Fall Fest and concert, there will be a bucket for cash donations, plus there will be signs with a QR code that people can scan to make an online donation.

She said they have also set up a donation page on their website, Clevelandcc.edu , and people can click on Events at the top of the home page. Under Events they will see a link titled, Hurricane Helene Relief Effort that will take them to a donation page.

The concert features the '80s band Cassette Rewind and an opening act comprised of Cleveland County musicians.

Rodger Perry, musician and CCC employee, said some members of the local bands “Black Coffee Quartet “ and “Bruised Rhino” are collaborating to open for Cassette Rewind.

Vess said there will be kids activities, games, trunk or treat and a kids costume contest. Food trucks will be there for food purchases.

Jason Hurst, president of CCC, said there are 14 community colleges that are in disaster zones, including Cleveland Community College.

"We're probably one of the first that's been able to get up and running," he said.

The college was one of the only places in the county that had power following the storm, but due to the downed powerlines and trees around the county that hindered travel, they closed campus Friday through Wednesday.

"We were so much more fortunate than our neighbors to the west," Hurst said. "The 14 colleges have been on weekly conference calls with the governor's office with state emergency management, FEMA, NC Community College system office and all presidents from 14 colleges that could get on the call to talk about the status of colleges and what we needed to get back up and running."

He said some had no access to communication.

"Because we are in such a better position than other colleges we have chosen to adopt Blue Ridge Community College as the college we're going to try support," he said.

In addition to contributing funds, they also offered IT support and lab access to students in programs such as cosmetology, welding and more. They also assisted with basic necessities such as paper products, water and food.

"We have a CDL program we hope to be able to use our trucks to transport back and forth," he said.

Hurst said Blue Ridge is working on surveying faculty, staff and students to get a better idea of what the needs are and then they can begin meeting those needs. The sister college reopened to staff and students last week.

"We're continuing to hear stories where they're in there trying to assess damage but there's still active mudslides. They're literally having to try restore power with helicopters," he said. "The problems we're seeing too, even where college relatively OK, people can't get there."

Hurst said CCC is grateful for the resources coming their way and feel blessed to not have been as impacted as some of their neighbors.

"Bottom line with all this, we were hit hard, our county was hit hard, but we were so much more fortunate than our neighbors to the west and we want to send all we can to help them," he said. "It's not a pat on our backs, it's just the right thing to do. "

Jeff Ledford, CCC's director of safety and security, said it is especially meaningful because they are targeting a population they have a connection with.

"I think it reinforced that community part of Cleveland Community College," he said.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: CCC adopts sister college, holds benefit concert