Pasco-Hernando State College Volume XIV, Issue II Fall 2020 | Page 26

DRIVE ASSISTS BAHAMA SCHOOLS
After Hurricane Dorian ravaged the Bahamas on
September 1, 2019, destroying at least 10 schools
and displacing 10,000 children, PHSC faculty and
staff contributed to a unique relief effort. PHSC’s
School Supplies Drive was established by PHSC
President Timothy Beard, inspired to help after
speaking to PHSC Alumnus D’Angelo Ferguson
’95. Ferguson had described the unimaginable loss
suffered by schools that were literally swept away by
the storm.
PHSC employees responded generously, purchasing
backpacks, notebooks, binders, pens, pencils, and
art supplies that filled 45 large boxes weighing 1,300
pounds. In addition, PHSC IT staff reconditioned 20
computers to like-new condition to include with the
shipment of supplies.
Pastor Dennis Gilbert of the Antioch Baptist Church,
who had sponsored and housed Ferguson while he
was a student at PHSC, volunteered to drive the
truckload of materials to Miami. A Miami shipping
company delivered the supplies at no cost
to Nassau, where they are in storage until
schools reopen.
“We were still recovering from the devastation of
Dorian when the pandemic hit,” said Ferguson, who
heads the Alfred and Nancy Stuart Foundation in
Nassau. “When it is safe for students to return to
school, the supplies will be needed more than ever.
We are touched by the compassion expressed by
PHSC employees through the donation of these
much-needed items for our schools.”
PHSC Alumnus D’Angelo Ferguson receiving the
Bahamas School Supplies Drive in Nassau.
PHSC student volunteers, including PHSC Head
Basketball Coach Micheal Jones and his team,
helped load donations into a van that delivered the
donated supplies to a Miami shipping company.
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