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The many natural disasters occurring around the United States seem just far enough away for Midwesterners to feel safe from the destruction. But what about the people who endured these hardships? For some Grand View students, these disasters hit close to home for them as they worried about their loved ones. Now students are dealing with the aftermath of the storms and feeling helpless away from their families.  We sat down with a few of them to talk about the emotional roller-coaster they have been through in the past few weeks.  

Building ‘Blocks’ for Houston  

The Grand View woman’s volleyball team has set out to help not only their friends in need here at Grand View but to do something bigger by raising money for all victims of Hurricane Harvey.  Assistant coach of the team, Makani Cantor, approached the girls with the idea of helping Houston while playing volleyball and collectively the girls came up with the idea of pledging money for each block made during their games.  

“We are still helping raise money for the people that were affected but not having to financially give money ourselves considering we’re college students and we don’t have a lot of that,” junior volleyball team member, Keely Larkin said.  

The volleyball family is hoping to reach a goal of $5,000 during the month of September and they have currently raised $1,054 so far in their project to rebuild Houston. They are asking people to pledge $9.58 towards each block that they make in their games during this month.  

All pledges made to the Harvey fund will go directly to the affected through the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund that was set up by the mayor of Houston, according to the website that was created by the volleyball team for their fundraising efforts.   

“The campaign is much more than just the donations, pledges, and the dollar figure donated to the relief fund, we wanted to show that our program continues to send thoughts, optimism, and support to those in Houston as they fight to rebuild their community … “one block at a time,” assistant volleyball coach, Makani Cantor said.  

Each set opens an opportunity to further the team’s plan and help the people hit by Hurricane Harvey. The group created a link to make it easier for people to give towards their cause and share with their family and friends, https://pledgeit.org/blocks4houston is the route to go for giving and to view a schedule of GV volleyball games left in September.  

 

GV Cares Emergency Fund  

According to a Grand View news release, the GV Cares Emergency Fund is a new opportunity for low income students that are faced with financial emergencies. Students who qualify can apply for a small grant of up to $1,000 to help them cover unexpected crisis’ so they are able to turn their focus back to their schoolwork.  

The emergency fund has certain qualifications for who and what situations qualify. However, Grand View faculty work closely together to help every individual to the best of their ability based on the circumstance. 

“We would strongly be excited about having those resources available to our students,” said Pam Christoffers, associate vice president for institutional effectiveness. “If the impact of the hurricanes limits the family’s ability to support a student here, that is a financial emergency.” 

Once the application is approved, the student will have their expense paid within 48 hours. It’s important to note that a student is only eligible for this grant once in their college career.  

Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation announced the grant in the summer and Grand View staff felt that the grant was absolutely a resource that some students could use.  

“At least this grant can help take away the sting of that, for a little bit,” Christoffers said.