Saturday, February 15, 2025

Local schools join high school athletic association in Hurricane Matthew relief assistance night

CHAPEL HILL – In wake of devastating flooding in the eastern portion of North Carolina, North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) Commissioner Que Tucker and the organization’s Board of Directors has declared Friday, Oct. 21 as Hurricane Matthew Relief Assistance Night at all NCHSAA football contests.

Member schools have been asked to participate by collecting money at any home football contest that night and forward monies to the association, which will act as a clearinghouse. All money will be divided and sent to Local Education Agencies in the counties designated as disaster areas and federally approved for individual assistance to help homeowners and renters repair or replace damaged homes.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association has made changes to the athletics schedule for fall sports in the state.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association has made changes to the athletics schedule for fall sports in the state.

The NCHSAA Board of Directors has approved matching funds up to $20,000 to add to the money collected on Hurricane Matthew Relief Assistance Night. Funds distributed to affected LEA’s would be available to help the schools as determined by local school boards.

Three of the four scheduled home games in the Wilmington area have joined in on the effort. They include the Hoggard vs. West Brunswick contest, New Hanover vs. Ashley matchup and the North Brunswick versus Dixon game in Leland.

According to the NCHSAA, 33 football games across the state and 77 schools are participating in the effort.

“With so much devastation across eastern North Carolina, we began thinking about what might be possible to directly help our schools that have been affected,” Tucker said. “We remembered Hurricane Floyd and that we collected money at Regional Meetings, with the NCHSAA supplying a match in that case as well. Once again, we want to get our school communities involved to help our member schools and systems recover from this wide-spread disaster.”

The NCHSAA Board of Directors also approved designating Friday, Dec. 16, as a Hurricane Matthew Relief Assistance Night, asking member schools to take up money at a home basketball games to contribute to the relief effort. The NCHSAA will again match money raised in the Dec. 16 relief effort up to $20,000.

“Great things are possible when we all work together,” Tucker added. “This is a service opportunity for our membership and we must rally around those who have been devastated by this historic flooding in eastern North Carolina.”

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