Bryan College sends students to Texas in wake of Hurricane Harvey

Written By: Devin Burrow, Staff Writer

Students will wake up at 4:00 a.m. for a 12 hour drive to a devastated place where they will endure a week long effort that could involve scraping and digging mud out of victims homes, cutting trees that have fallen and caused obstacles and destroyed houses, and whatever else their governing organization, The Virginia Baptist Disaster Response, would have them do.

Hurricane Harvey devastated towns in Texas. Image: Dailymail.co.uk

Sophomore class president, Andrew Appel, and Auxiliary Services Manager, Donald Buttram, assembled a team of eight students to help the victims recover after the hurricane’s devastation. They will work from during fall break, October 14 to 21.

Andrew Appel, sophomore, developed the idea to physically help victims of Hurricane Harvey.

Due to the lack of coverage of small towns like Liberty, Texas, there has been little to no recovery effort to administer aid to small towns.

Buttram talked with Tim Hostetler about how Bryan College could support the afflicted areas. Meanwhile, Appel was on his way to talk to Hostetler about the idea to form a team. Hostetler directed Appel to Buttram and they started making plans for a rescue team.

Donald Buttram works as a liaison for Bryan College’s response team to the Virginia Baptist Disaster Response team.

“Andrew is driven,” said Buttram. “I am so glad that he is the student in charge, he makes it quite easy to manage.”

“Bryan College wants to be involved in the community, “ said Appel. “This is an opportunity, an opportunity to show our neighbors love.”

Appel hopes that this event will be a catalyst for setting up an emergency fund for future disasters and that the fund will be matched by the school and  set up an emergency response team for rapid movement to areas plagued by devastation.

Students will be staying on cots in a local church in Liberty, where the Virginia Baptist Disaster Response team will sponsor what is needed for their stay.

For more information on how to donate to this cause, Contact Donald Buttram by email at dbuttram7706@bryan.edu or at his office in Mercer 213. You can also contact Andrew Appel at his email Aappel7975@bryan.edu.

Devin Burrow is a sophomore communications major with a minor in worship arts at Bryan College. His interests include hiking, music and football.