As the nation rallies around the victims of Hurricane Katrina, Lanier Technical College is joining in relief efforts for displaced victims as well as supporting some of it's own family members who have been affected. Students, staff and faculty launched Operation Backpack for Kids to provide school supplies to evacuees living at the Rock Eagle center in Putnam County. According to Doris Bombick, Pilot Club President and one of the Red Cross volunteers heading up Relief Services there at Rock Eagle, over 110 of the approximately 500 evacuees staying at the center are school-age children who were registered to start at Putnam County schools this Monday, September 12. Lanier Technical College faculty and staff volunteers and members of the Student Government Association worked feverishly to prepare and deliver 100 backpacks loaded with school supplies, blankets and personal care items along with clothing, diapers and a $3000 monetary donation by Friday, September 10 so school children would have supplies in time for their first day of school. The Lanier Technical College Bookstore also donated supplies for the backpacks.

Lanier Technical College has felt the effects of Katrina on a personal scale as several staff and faculty members have friends and relatives in the affected areas or have traveled to the region to participate directly in the rescue and clean-up. Linda Scarborough, Director of Lanier Technical College's Healthcare Management program, drove out to New Orleans before Katrina hit to evacuate her daughter and son-in-law who were living in student housing at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. They were able to escape with some clothing, pictures and important papers. Beth Hefner, Director of Early Childhood Care and Education, went for almost 48 hours without knowing if her mother, a resident of the Harrisburg, Mississippi area, had survived the storm. She was finally able to contact Beth with the help of a kind Georgia Power employee with a satellite cell phone, but her home sustained severe damage. Stephanie Smith's mother was able to evacuate to Houston, Texas with just her clothing and a few other belongings before the storm hit. Stephanie, a student in the CIS Web Site Design program, is helping her mother settle in as she plans to remain in Houston.

Most heartwrenching of all is the loss of Ken Orr's aunt and uncle in Long Beach, Mississippi. Ken Orr, Lanier Technical College's Coordinator of the Georgia Fatherhood Program, learned that his mother's sister and her husband, Harneithia and Tommie Maxey, had drowned in the storm surge. They are survived by a son. Lanier Technical College faculty, staff and students have made donations to help the Maxeys and will continue to help Ken and his family in other ways needed.

John Batson, adjunct instructor for the Occupational Safety Management program, worked in relief efforts for 4 days in Biloxi, Mississippi, and saw the devastation firsthand. "Houses are wiped off foundations, people just wandering and really don't know what to do," Batson commented. "It's very hard to imagine. The best way people can help is to donate money and things to shelters around here. People have no place there to go back to." Bill Cathey, Lanier Technical College’s Information Technology Specialist, filled bags of ice from the school to transport needed items through a local church and the Cosmetology program is offering free haircuts to all hurricane evacuees. Lanier Technical College will continue to support it's family and community. If you're interested in donating to Operation Backpack for Kids, contact Mary Ann Miller at 770-531-6300 or mmiller@laniertech.edu.