By Amelia Orwick

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Students in West Liberty, Ky., still recovering from tornadoes that swept through the city in March, welcomed school-supply donations from UK HealthCare at a recent Back to School Bash.

UK HealthCare Volunteer Services originally sat down to brainstorm ways to help the citizens of West Liberty immediately after the tornadoes struck, said Rebecca Rowe, volunteer coordinator for the medical center.

Although employees considered a home-supplies drive, it was decided that donations would do little good if citizens hadn’t rebuilt or found new homes.

“So we put it off and decided that we should wait for the town to return to normalcy,” Rowe said. “That’s when we decided to do the school-supply drive.”

All supplies were contributed by UK HealthCare employees and collected in the Volunteer Services conference room.

“All the supplies were stacked to the ceiling,” Rowe said. “There was nowhere to walk because of all the boxes.”

On Aug. 13, UK HealthCare employees helped load the van that would deliver the goods to the Back to School Bash, which was sponsored by Morgan County Appalachian Regional Hospital.

“The van was packed to the gills,” Rowe said. “They only had room for the driver because every nook and cranny was full of supplies.”

At the bash, students enjoyed free hot dogs and chips and the chance to win prizes in addition to the supplies they received.

Mining and engineering junior Cory Murphy, who graduated from Morgan County High School in 2010, appreciated that his university is lending a hand to his hometown community.

“When you think about how small Morgan County is, when some place as big as University of Kentucky helps, it obviously means a lot to everyone.”