By Justin Ratliff
Image of me helping load the truck of supplies to be sent to Western NC.
I choose to talk about how social media & the communitie’s impact on the relief of Hurricane Helene. We were able to raise funds and resources to give back to the people of Western NC. Using the WolfPack Image and popular images like football players we were able to share our mission. We took to instagram to ask others to donate. By using local news networks and our following on social media we were able to collect over 12 U-Haul loads of resources for people in Western NC. Our mission sparked outreach from other athletic departments and with there help we created Pack United which was established to use student athletes NIL to raise funds for the people of Western NC. We sold clothing and gathered donations which was directly donated to the American Red Cross. We were able to get other North Carolina schools to become involved in our mission. The use of social media was extremely important in our approach to raise awareness because it allowed us to reach different age groups by showing how peoples donations were taken by our players and staff and distributed to the needy in Western NC. Social media allowed us to show others how truly destructive the hurricane was to the communities in Western NC. And how others can make a difference by donating to the cause to bring back some hope for the people of Western NC.
https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/nc-state/article293230224.html