8 September 2005

Longwood University and Farmville area communities plan Katrina relocation project

A group of over 50 community leaders from Farmville, Longwood University,
Hampden-Sydney College, Prince Edward and Cumberland counties, met at Longwood this morning to discuss "Forty Families for Farmville," a community response and plan to provide relief and support to families that were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. As Dr. Patricia P. Cormier, president of Longwood University stated at the opening of the meeting, "You can imagine the logistics involved in an effort like this. We want to provide all the necessities and services that these people lost - housing, education, job training, food services, counseling, and other types of support."

The idea for "Forty Families for Farmville," originated with Longwood Professor Drew Harris, associate professor of management, who believes that, "Farmville can step up as a community and do something meaningful. A community can do so much more than an individual, and Farmville is an amazing, caring community. If we all pull together, there's nothing we can't do."

There was no shortage of volunteers and helpful suggestions at the 7:30 am meeting, which took place on campus in the Tea Room. Representatives from a wide range of support services were present, including education, transportation, healthcare, housing, job training, churches, counseling centers, and other care givers. Additionally, Dr. Walter Bortz, president of Hampden-Sydney College has offered the college's business office to process and maintain monetary donations for this effort. Checks should be made payable to: Hampden-Sydney College: Katrina Relief Fund. For more information, call H-SC at 434.223.6216.

Farmvillle Town Manager Gerry Spates has already been in contact with town officials at Hattiesburg, Mississippi, one of the towns that was impacted by Hurricane Katrina. "Hattiesburg is very much like us in terms of size and demographics," Spates reported. "I think we can help them recover and they may be a good source for identifying families that might want to relocate to the Farmville area." Spates stated also that the Town of Farmville is collecting supplies and will be dispatching a convoy of trucks to Hattiesburg on Saturday. Donations of bottled water, personal hygiene items (tooth brushes, toothpaste, disposable razors, soap, deodorant), disposable diapers, baby formula, and canned food are needed and can be donated to organizers at Wilcks Lake on Saturday morning.

Locating families will be one of the initial tasks of the "Forty Families for Farmville" project. Because of widespread damage to the area's infrastructure, communications is non-existent in some communities. As Dr. Cormier stated, "We are looking at three major components of this project: identifying families that might want to relocate to Farmville, having all the support services in place, and providing transportation to and from the region."

To expedite and implement the project plan, Dr. Cormier will facilitate the appointment of a steering committee and chair to oversee the many facets of the operation. Once the steering committee is formed, a plan of action will be developed to enlist all the volunteers and support services that will be needed to help families begin a new life in the Farmville area.