Hosting students from a sister university, serving as a staging area for vehicles used in relief efforts, and offering a place for community members to charge their tech devices are among the ways Middle Georgia State University (MGA) campuses are supporting the state’s Hurricane Helene recovery efforts.

In the past two weeks, MGA has welcomed 32 Valdosta State University students and staff to its Macon Campus residence halls. Helene’s heavy rains and massive winds hit the city of Valdosta and much of the rest of South Georgia hard late last week before roaring across the state on an easternly path, slamming into other towns and cities with devastating results.

In the immediate aftermath of Helene, about 1.3 million homes lacked power, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The highest concentrations of power outages were centered around Augusta, Savannah, and Valdosta.

In an email to the MGA community, Dr. Jennifer Brannon, vice president for Student Affairs, said “compassion resonates with the very essence of our identity as Knights. As we embrace our visitors from Valdosta State, let’s embody our values of stewardship, engagement, adaptability, and learning.”

Meanwhile, MGA’s Dublin Campus opened its library to members of the community without power who needed a place to charge their devices or just take a break in an air- conditioned environment. The storm also caused significant power outages and damage in Dublin and Laurens County.

The Dublin Campus library is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to noon on Friday.

In addition to those support efforts, a portion of the MGA Macon Campus’s parking lots served as a Logistics Staging Area (LSA) for vehicles and equipment of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. GEMA deployed crews across the state to help with recovery efforts.

GEMA did not use the campus as a site to distribute supplies to people impacted by the storm. But students, faculty, and staff saw trucks rolling through to the staging area on the west end of the campus, from which the vehicles were deployed around the state to get provisions, workers, and equipment to communities that need them.

The MGA community found other ways to help. Students and instructors in the University’s Aviation Maintenance Technology and Aviation Structural Technology programs donated cases of water, diapers, batteries, and non-perishable food items. They took the items to First Baptist Church in McRae for distribution in hard-hit areas.

“I am proud of the examples set by students, faculty, and staff representing a variety of departments at Middle Georgia State University to step up in a time of need,” said Christopher Blake, Ph.D., MGA’s president. “They are wonderful representations of how we embrace our core values as a University and serve our communities and sister institutions.”

Other University System of Georgia institutions also pitched in to help with relief efforts in the aftermath of Helene. For example, Gordon State College in Barnesville hosted some residential students from Augusta State University, whose Summerville Campus was significantly damaged.

Valdosta State resumed virtual classes on October 7. According to its Facebook page, the University is dealing with hundreds of fallen trees on rooftops, sidewalks, roadways, the softball field, and other outdoor gathering places. Several buildings experienced roof damage from high winds and fallen trees. All outdoor lighting sustained extensive damage.

MGA and other University System institutions continue to help as the state still recovers from Helene, ready to lend a helping hand where needed.