91探花

Community support has been a vital resource in the local and regional recovery efforts since Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina late last year. When Lees-91探花 evacuated all students and shifted to remote learning following damage to local roads and infrastructure, residence halls, academic buildings, and other campus resources and facilities, it became clear that the road to recovery stretched far ahead. Even though regular college operations resumed in November 2024, several areas of campus required more extensive work.

The support and financial resources provided by The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) have been instrumental in hastening the college’s full recovery. CFWNC is a nonprofit serving 18 counties in Western North Carolina and is a permanent resource that mobilizes resources to enrich lives and communities in the region.

In the aftermath of the storm, the college requested two rounds of grant funding, one to assist in the immediate recovery and reopening of the college’s on-campus facilities, and another to assist in the revitalization of the Elk Valley Preserve, an invaluable college resource that provides students and faculty with more than 70 acres of a natural laboratory environment.

In total, nearly $70,000 in funding was provided by two grants from CFWNC: $18,000 for initial clean-up and $50,000 for revitalization efforts in the Preserve.

The initial $18,000 was used to purchase a commercial-grade generator and a mobile hot pressure washer, resources that allowed the college to quickly restore power loss to dining facilities, well pumps, and residence halls, and clean and sanitize buildings and facilities that were left in disrepair by the storm.

“It is important that we can assure students and their parents, as well as our employees, that no lingering hazards (seen or unseen) will be found as we repopulate our buildings and resume the normal flow of activities across campus,” Grants Director PJ Townsend wrote in the initial grant application to CFWNC in October 2024.

Since the funding of this $18,000 grant, the college has been able to restore campus operations to normal by welcoming students back to residence halls and returning to on-campus instruction.

While the college’s initial recovery has been successful, a return to full operation is still underway, and the Preserve is one of the most impacted areas of campus. This natural laboratory sits about 10 minutes from the college’s North Campus on environmentally protected land that provides habitat for countless species of animal and plant life.

Surveys on foot and via aerial drone revealed extensive damage to the Preserve following the storm, including tree fall, woody debris, trash, demolished vehicles, and mounds of displaced sediment due to flooding and high winds, all of which impact not only the ability of students and faculty to conduct research, but also vast amounts of natural habitat for animals like birds, bats, salamanders, beavers, and snakes.

“The forest where the trail along the river was, is now gone, replaced by a wide, scoured border of bare rock along the river’s edge. Many of the banks along the river are incised and eroding, and the creeks descending from the cove forest are now rockslides. The remaining riparian forest is a difficult-to-traverse obstacle course of downed trees, sand dunes, gravel, and twisted, broken debris from homes that washed away upstream. There are also the nearly unrecognizable remains of three vehicles wedged into large tree piles,” Director for Elk Valley Preserve Michael Osbourn said. “The impacts on wildlife are yet to be assessed, but the critical breeding habitat for spotted salamanders and wood frogs, the vernal pools, are buried under feet of sand and gravel.”

Thanks to the grant funds allocated by CFWNC, the college was able to partner with a local heavy equipment owner and operator to begin revitalization of the Preserve as soon as was feasible. Skid loaders and excavators have been used to reestablish a path along the Elk River by breaking down and hauling off downed tree piles, large debris, and demolished vehicles.

These efforts are still underway, and the funds have been used for the rental of additional equipment and heavy machinery, the purchase of necessary rock and gravel fill, and outstanding heavy debris removal work that will return the Preserve to the beautiful landscape and natural laboratory that is a vital ecological and scientific resource.

“The grant from The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina will further boost our efforts as we move into the next phase of storm recovery at the Preserve. This grant will enable us to purchase needed hand tools, replace our missing gate, re-gravel our washed-out parking area and driveway, and rent heavy equipment needed to break down tree piles and open access to the forest along the river,” Osbourn said. “Although the Elk Valley Preserve is forever changed by this 1000-year event, we have an opportunity to bring the whole community together in recovery and restoration efforts. Support from CFWNC and student and community volunteers will ensure that the Elk Valley Preserve will remain the heart of the Wildlife Biology program’s field research and experiential learning experience at 91探花.”

While the grant funding provided by CFWNC has gone a long way in contributing to the college’s recovery efforts following the storm, there is still much to be done on campus and in the local community.

On Friday, March 28 the college is hosting Mountain Day of Service, an annual tradition where Lees-91探花 students, faculty, and staff leave their classrooms and offices and go out into the community for a day of service and volunteer work. This year, Mountain Day of Service is more important than ever before, and the college invites all families, alumni, members of the community, and college friends to participate in this annual tradition and help their mountain home continue the road to recovery.