Sophomore Madison Peterson and other members of her church, Sardis United Methodist Church, are helping the victims of Hurricane Sandy who have lost their homes, belongings and even their family members.

Their church will send care packages to the victims. Containing toothbrushes, hairbrushes and everyday items that the people need. They’re giving back to people who they believe need it the most; who would do the same if something ever happened down here.

“The victims got everything taken away from them, so we should give back and help in any way we can,” sophomore Madison Peterson said.

Many people in New York have evacuated, and electricity was out in multiple states. The power outages have reached an estimated amount of 7.4 million without power. But now that things have settled down there are still a quarter of million people without power.

The people without power don’t have any heat to stay warm, they’re out of light when it’s not daytime, and the food that they had before the hurricane is now either eaten or spoiled. Families are alone, some even separated. Since they’re also up North, and it’s winter, that means that it’s snowing, which makes the people colder than they already are.

While the Hurricane isn’t going to affect students here, it does affect their families.

Senior Brandi Morris has family in New Jersey, one of the many states that the hurricane has destroyed.

“My grandparent’s shore house dock got destroyed. We used to go up there every summer and now It’s messed up. The worst part is that no one can go onto the island for a while anymore, so we can’t fix it,” Morris said. “They’re my family and I have childhood memories there, I don’t want to lose those.”

Since Morris and her family live down here in Arkansas, there’s not much they can do to help out.

New York was the state hardest hit by the Hurricane with the total death toll above 110 people. Multiple buildings have been demolished and some people have even died.

Even though there isn’t much that students and local citizens can do, but they can donate to foundations. People can give to the American Red Cross, The Samaritan’s Purse, or many other foundations to help.

“They [People in the North] would help us if anything ever happened to us. Our whole nation needs to stick together and stay strong.” sophomore Joellen Dettra said.