Duke Community Providing Aid to Storm Victims [Updated]
Health system sends medical teams, donations collected for Eastern North Carolina
The Duke community is responding to the devastation from Hurricane Matthew by sending medical teams and medical supplies to hard-hit areas in Eastern North Carolina.
Students, Duke Athletics and units are also collecting nonperishable items and money to help victims. Effective immediately, 10 percent of all donations to the Duke giving options of the Doing Good in the Neighborhood campaign will go directly to the NC Disaster Relief Fund to help people and communities affected by Hurricane Matthew and the resulting flooding.
The hurricane that hit last weekend is responsible for 20 deaths in the state as of Thursday morning. Stretches of Interstates 40 and 95 remained closed due to flooding, and residents in Robeson County were rescued by boats or airlifted as waters continued to rise Wednesday, The News & Observer reported.
Calling the storm’s destruction “an unimaginable tragedy,” Dr. A. Eugene Washington, chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of the Duke University Health, sent an email Wednesday evening to employees highlighting the health system’s response so far.
This includes sending a team of roughly 20 health care professionals from across the health system last Friday to assist in providing medical care to the hard-hit Goldsboro area.
They have also flown in medical supplies and equipment to support the medical teams working in Lumberton, he wrote.
“Without functioning operating rooms at Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton, we have committed to doing everything possible to accept any transfer patients as needed and will, in fact, be receiving a few transfers this evening,” Washington wrote. “We are also coordinating any needed transfers from all hospitals in the region that were impacted. And, we are communicating regularly with state officials to understand how best we can support the continuing needs.”
Meanwhile, Duke alumni Emily Hadley and Jessica Alvarez, part of the Duke College Advising Corps at a Sampson County high school, are working with Duke students Lauren Hadley and Daisy Altamonte to collect from the Duke community relief supplies and cash donations for the families of farmworkers.
They are working directly with the Sampson County Episcopal Farmworkers Ministry in Dunn. The most critical needs are for sweatshirts and blankets. Drop-off locations for this outreach include the Blackwell and Southgate Common Rooms on East Campus, and at the office of Duke’s Student Action with Farmworkers at Duke Center for Documentary Studies.
“These horrible conditions aren't limited to North Carolina, or even to the U.S.,” wrote Larry Moneta, vice president of student affairs, in an email to students. “Haiti was once again devastated as have been other countries and regions. The needs are dramatic and immediate.”
Moneta included a link where people can donate money to various agencies, https://weather.com/news/news/hurricane-matthew-how-help.
Another place to donate is the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund, which supports survivors of disasters that occur in the state.
At The Fuqua School of Business, the community can donate items such as non-perishable food, bottle water, blankets, baby formula, socks (for children and adults), feminine hygiene products and medical supplies in a bin at the Fox Student Center.
Duke’s Carolina Cord Blood Bank is also collecting canned foods, clothes and shoes, paper products, beverages and activity items for children in shelters on the ninth floor of North Pavilion through Oct. 31.
For the next few weeks, Duke Athletics is partnering with Harris Teeter and the NC Food Banks to hold a canned food drive leading up to the Nov. 5 Duke-Virginia Tech game at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Donations will go to local food pantries, including those impacted by last weekend’s storm, and can be made at the Duke Athletics Ticket Office, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday.
Donations can also be made on game day at the ticket office, Bojangles Tailgate Show on Tribull Plaza, K-Ville, Coca Cola Fan Zone on Bassett Drive and the Wilson Gate on the east side of the stadium.
For every three cans that are donated, fans can buy a discounted ticket for $15 to the Virginia Tech game.