VCOM View Vol 10 No 1

VCOM Employees Help After Tornado Hits Monroe, Louisiana

W hen a tornado struck Sunday, the VCOM-Louisiana Monroe campus was still months away from opening its doors to its first class of medical students. The tornado devastated the region, damaged many low-income homes and displaced as many as two hundred families. Monroe and surrounding communities on Easter

...our employees believe in the College and its values, and they’re willing to give back.” staff, and I applaud all of them for participating in this effort to help others in need.” VCOM employees at its four campuses in Auburn, Alabama; Blacksburg, Virginia; Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Monroe, Louisiana participated and contributed more than $4,690 to the United Way of Northeast Louisiana to assist families living in the Monroe area. ■ with tornadoes and their impact on a community. As a College, we saw this as a great opportunity to give back and show the people of Monroe we care. Although the medical school did not incur any significant damage, we did see that many families were not back in their homes and knew they would need supplies once they returned. It was a fantastic effort on the part of our faculty and

After seeing reports of the destruction, VCOM faculty and staff on all four campuses felt compelled to help with the Louisiana Tornado Relief efforts, and VCOM agreed to match employee donations up to $6,000.

“This is what VCOM is about,” said President Dixie Tooke-Rawlins, DO. “We talk about family a lot at VCOM. When you see things like this happening and our faculty and staff responding financially to help those in need, it shows that our employees believe in the College and its values, and they’re willing to give back.” “Although I am still relatively new to Monroe,” said Louisiana’s Dean Ray Morrison, DO. “I’m very familiar

Photos: (top two) Cory Crowe; (bottom two) Jay Thomas.

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