fsfaculty: Report on Faculty donations for Katrina

The 18-wheeler arrived on the coast by 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

The faculty, students, and staff donated $8,330 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Friday. The money was used to buy clothing, food, tools, water, medicine, and other supplies needed by the people on the Gulf Coast. Donations of products probably took the total to nearly $9,000. Every dollar collected purchased items.

Our donations were combined with those from the Starkville community. I am guessing that it took nearly $100,000 worth of products to fill the truck.

The truck left Starkville about 11 a.m. on Sunday, arriving on the coast about 6:30 p.m. The donations were delivered into the hands of the Marines.

The truck, the driver, and the fuel were donated by Billy Milican of Royal Trucking Company of West Point. Donna and Aubrey Blair worked out those details. The sparkplug behind everything was Melanie Harris. Delores Hudson coordinated the university donations. Volunteers from First Methodist lead the community drive. The people at Wal-Mart and Kroger helped us with the purchases. An effort like this took a hundred people to pull off; thank you to everyone who participated.