SPRINGFIELD –Lincoln Land Community College is lending a helping hand to victims of Hurricane Harvey, which rolled through Texas last month.

Even as relief efforts and rebuilding starts in Texas, many towns lack the necessary supplies for daily life. Many families returned home find their homes in rubble, a shallow reminder of what they once held so dearly, such as old family pictures washed away as the hurricane with winds of up to 130 miles per hour.

Many colleges were evacuated before the storm, placing student safety first and foremost. But as students returned to their classes that had just started, they found dorms ruined by flooding and storm-damaged campuses. Many local community colleges affected including the Texas Community College system.

With damage being assessed now, some community colleges are finding many of their school’s resources have been destroyed or ruined. Some schools in the Houston area, such as Victoria College and Alvin Community College, reported their school’s losing power and their IT systems being knocked out with some systems not being recoverable.

The Texas Community College System will not rebuild and recover alone though, as a statewide organization by the Illinois Community College System Foundation has pledged to help with relief efforts. This effort called “All in for Harvey,” will raise funds for any community colleges affected by this natural disaster. The overall goal of this campaign is to help students, staff, and their faculty to be able to return to their schools and resume class under safe and operational conditions that won’t impede their learning experience.

LLCC is not in this alone though as many other community colleges around Illinois are also joining together in the effort. The Illinois Community College System Foundation is leading the efforts by advising all community colleges to seek out any form of donations from students and faculty members in our community. These donations in part will then be sent to the Texas Community College System.

If you would like to donate or help in any way, you can drop off a monetary donation to the Student Life Office on the main campus.

For those students or faculty not on the main campus you can approach your LLCC Outreach Centers in Jacksonville, Beardstown, Taylorville, or the Litchfield campus.

Any checks need to be made out to the Illinois Community College Foundation System.

Fundraising events including the Black Student Union’s Jean day on Sept. 21 will help support the victims of Harvey, with other campus wide events planned.

The Student Government Association is also asking student clubs and organizations to donate any fundraising funds to the effort. Any donation from a fundraiser, up to $500, will be reimbursed to the club by SGA.

With the relief efforts beginning now we the students, the faculty, and staff send our prayers and best wishes out to all the victims that were affected by Hurricane Harvey.