Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti on October 15, 2016 and caused massive devastation, leaving 546 people dead, 438 people injured and 128 still missing, according to ReliefWeb.int.

The victims of this hurricane were left with nothing but ruined homes and a sense of loss for many family members. DECA and National Honor Society are pairing up to collect essentials with their “Helping Haiti” campaign.

“It is a school wide community service project that consists of not only DECA but NHS as well. We are coming together to do a canned food drive, ran by DECA; and a pledge drive by NHS. It’s our way to help those who were affected by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti,” senior and DECA president Erik Ramos said.

These students are so motivated to help out people in need. To expand the project, DECA is attempting to gather multiple organizations and students to come together as a community and make an impact on the outside world, inspiring others to help those in need.

“What motivates us as organizations to do this is making that impact outside of the school,” Ramos said. “This is something very positive that we can do that requires us to give to those  outside into the world to make a difference.”

DECA member senior Kathlin Trang is hopeful for the turnout of this grand community service project.

“Both DECA and NHS hope to get the whole school involved to assist the people of Haiti,” Trang said. “Although Judson may seem small in comparison, we can help contribute to a large impact.”

When put in perspective, this hurricane could have hit anywhere. The heart and urge of the members of DECA and NHS will reach out with simple donations of much needed canned foods and serve those who cannot help themselves.

DECA will be conducting the food drive contest from Nov 7 – Nov 18. They will also be sponsoring a kickball tournament on Nov 15 at 5:00 p.m. in the back football practice field.