4C’s C O M MUN IT Y
In September 2024, disaster struck Western North Carolina and many communities in South Carolina’s Upstate. Hurricane Helene brought widespread flooding, power outages, and structural damage to an area that rarely experiences severe tropical weather.
“A lot of times you’ll hear about disasters, but they don’t end up impacting you,” said Donny Baker, who organized volunteer efforts with the football team. “But this time, we had players who lived in Western North Carolina. Their communities were struggling. It affected us and a lot of other people. We knew when we returned to campus, we had to do something.” Many NGU athletic teams found ways to assist their neighbors in the days following the storm.
“Our men’s soccer team was able to help
an organization in Spartanburg that was trying to set up a feeding center, and they got there at exactly the right time,” said Andy Ray, senior director of enrollment engagement. “What was done there would not have been possible without the young men that came to help get meals going in the Upstate.”
Jason Ross, director of development and corporate relations, who assisted with hurricane relief in Georgia, North Carolina, and Greenville, said disaster situations have a way of bringing communities together.
“Something of this magnitude will always bring people together. You have to become a big family and help one another get through it,” Ross said. “Praying together, crying together – there was a lot of that going on.”
“Every church in our area was doing something,” added Ray, who served with the South Carolina Baptist Disaster Relief team, along with several other NGU faculty and staff members. “There were so many who mobilized so quickly.”
Brett Plyler, student ministry coordinator at NGU, helped organize a group of more than 100 NGU students to travel to Biltmore Church in Western North Carolina to assist with hurricane relief.
“A couple of us went to Bat Cave Baptist and drove through Black Mountain,” Plyler said. “We saw complete roads missing, powerlines down, houses completely removed from their foundation, and cars in the river.”
“It was truly devastating,” he continued. “It reminded me of all the things I had to be grateful for, and the verse in Job that says
When you combine community with a strong sense of calling and an overwhelming amount of courage, you get leaders who serve with compassion. These “4 C’s” define the traits embodied by NGU difference makers.
NGU volunteers have assisted with Hurricane Helene relief.
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