Raleigh students deliver goods to NC high school affected by Hurricane Florence

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) —

Students at Millbrook High School in Raleigh personally delivered about 6,000 items to students at Jones Senior High School in Trenton affected by Hurricane Florence.

“It’s really heartwarming to know that someone out there cared enough about us to come over here to try to help us out,” said Imani Hargett, a student at Jones High. Hargett’s family’s home flooded during the storm.

“I think the hardest thing is going to my house, my childhood home, and not being able to stay in my room and having to go in and smell mold and watching all this stuff getting thrown out of my house. That was really hard for me,” she added.

Millbrook High students collected goods such as bottled water and canned food and turned their Homecoming Dance into a benefit for Jones High. They presented a check for more than $2,000 to the school.

“It makes you believe in the future,” said Pam Parker, Assistant Principal at Jones, getting emotional. “It’s not as bleak as some people want to make it sound. These kids are great, they really are.”

“Smaller counties like Jones County don’t really get as much help because they’re kind of overlooked in comparison to these larger counties,” said Millbrook High student body president Ryan Rebne. “In places like Jones County where the infrastructure might not have been as good and where the hurricane hit a lot harder, they’re kind of put back quite a bit.”

“I don’t know what I would do if I was in their shoes,” said Allison Nidiffer, senior vice president of the Class of 2019. “I would be devastated.”

History Teacher Lashonda Haddock loaded her own car with supplies to deliver. She graduated from Jones High.

“Not only is this my community that I grew up in,” she said. “I also have friends and family members who lost their homes due to the hurricane flooding. Jones County is one of the poorest counties in the state. They already don’t have and now they really don’t have.”

Students met each other and did a community service project together. They organized clothing donated to those affected by the hurricane.

“It allows the students not just to say that they’re donating but to see where the items that they’ve worked so hard to bring in and the money to raise is going,” said Ryne Jones, a Millbrook High School French teacher.