January 12, 2019

Small Colleges Helping Small Colleges : Hurricane Michael

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On October 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael made landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida as a Category 5 storm, the strongest to make landfall in the U.S. in 26 years.

Over the next several hours, Michael battered the beaches and coastal communities in its path. It left behind widespread destruction in Mexico Beach, Panama City, and the surrounding communities with entire homes flattened or swept from their foundations. Businesses were destroyed, and Tyndall Air Force Base sustained damage to every structure as well as several F-22 fighters.

More than half a year later, many residents still live in temporary housing as they work to put their lives and homes back together.

The campus of Gulf Coast State College in Panama City sustained approximately $40 million in damage to its buildings and facilities. Since the storm, the college has become an impromptu distribution center for food, water, and goods to not only its own students and staff, but to the community at large.

Seeing the dire need that remained after so many months, FGC President Dr. Lawrence Barrett realized that his college and community could make a real difference for the people still suffering in the panhandle.

Food, cleaning supplies, pet food, and other necessary items were donated by people throughout the FGC community and by local businesses through the “Small Colleges Helping Small Colleges” initiative.

On the six-month anniversary of the storm’s landfall, a group of FGC faculty and staff departed Lake City at 5:30 a.m. and made the four-hour trip to Panama City with a 26-foot truck loaded with supplies.

The donation delivery came at a crucial time for Gulf Coast State and the community, replenishing the college’s pantry just as supplies were running dangerously low.

John Holdnak, President of Gulf Coast State College, said, “Just to have a community spend time and energy helping my community in a way that’s real and tangible, you know, they’re bringing food, they’re bringing cleanup supplies, they’re bringing things that we still have people in need today, and it means more than I’ll ever be able to express.”