At the beginning of March the state of Nebraska was hit with severe weather, a bomb cyclone, extreme temperatures, and higher than usual amounts of precipitation all of which created a ”perfect storm” and caused widespread flooding.

During the middle of March we ran a donation drive to collect goods to be taken up to individuals in need up in Nebraska.

I began this donation drive on the morning of Monday, March 18th thinking I would get a van full of donations and make a quick trip to Nebraska to drop it off on that Friday, March 22nd. As the week went on we collected items and by Thursday afternoon it looked as if the large van I was borrowing would be full. Just a few hours later on Thursday evening I had tossed the idea of driving just one van but we were considering two vans. I went into work on Friday morning and instantly knew I was going to be needing a U-Haul.

As I drove around picking up donations in Hays on Friday, I was blown away by the community involvement and support shown to our neighbors to the north and even to us as we made the trip. The donation drop off in Nebraska was set up through a former FHSU Tiger and FHSU football standout, Connor Schedeed who is working with a local group helping to restore lives and homes to normalcy to Valley, Nebraska residents.

While we were driving around in Nebraska we saw that the flooding had been much worse than we had expected to see, neighborhoods completed destroyed, homes ruined, roads washed away, fields covered in sand and debris, and so much more. I know that the impact of the flooding will be for years on Nebraska but as fellow Midwesterners we will feel its impact as well.

Thank you to the Hays community, the Fort Hays State University campus community, local businesses, and those in the surrounding communities for your outpouring of donations, hundreds of you donated to the cause. We ended up taking around 7,000 pounds of donations up to Valley. Items donated included water, clothes, food, cleaning supplies, diapers, baby wipes, donations of money, gas money and much much more.

Once again thank you for your support for this donation drive, to Nebraskans, and to us as we made this journey! The amount of donations and support we received in just being willing to take donations up was unbelievable. Hays and the surrounding communities truly are giving people.

Drew Gannon
Fort Hays State University
Director of Tiger Wellness Center