Tropical Storm Fred wreaked havoc on areas of Western North Carolina in August of this year. The storm caused destruction at Pisgah and Rosman High School; the damage to athletic equipment and school facilities was significant.
This week the schools were notified each was receiving a $25,000 grant from the Carolina Panthers Charities. Athletic directors from both schools had been in close contact with the charity since the flooding but had no idea the gift that was in store for these schools.
The Carolina Panthers have provided a “High School Athletics Disaster Relief” grant program since 2015. The previous programs (2015,’16, and ’18) addressed flooding and hurricane damage in eastern NC and SC. In total, 61 high schools have benefitted from the program sharing $800,000 in total funding.
Riley Fields, Carolina Panthers director of community relations, said, “The Carolina Panthers are providing grant funding to assist the schools, and the communities they serve, in returning to a sense of normalcy by funding equipment replacement and critical repairs; which will benefit each school’s athletic programs.”
Transylvania County Schools Athletic Director Alan Justice stated, “this was just such a generous gift and will be a tremendous help to the athletic program at Rosman High School.”