The Columbia/Adair County School Resource Officers are conducting a drive for the Johnson County schools in Mountain City, Tennessee, in response to flooding from Hurricane Helene.
“I’ve already had a couple of people today ask me, ‘Why that town?’ I actually lived in that town. In fact, I went to the middle school down there,” Adair County Middle School SRO Jimmy Luttrell said.
He also said part of the motivation to help was in how much the town reminded him of Adair County. Johnson County and Adair have similar population numbers and are both small, Appalachian towns.
Last Thursday, Officer Luttrell made a trip down to Mountain City where he got in contact with the counselor of the Johnson County school system, of which Mountain City is part of. They spoke about what the community was most in need of, including what the children there could use.
Upon returning, Officer Luttrell said, “The SROs got to talking about it with our kids and our kids were wanting to do something. So, we decided to do a drive at the schools for the kids. So, the school kids are bringing in the gloves and the mittens and that sort of thing. Our kids here at school are some of the greatest kids there are.”
For others who are interested in helping, a trailer is located in the parking lot behind Columbia City Hall for donations. It will be available from 6:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Donations will be accepted from now through Tuesday and will be delivered on Wednesday. They are taking socks, gloves and mittens, beanies and hats, blankets, sleeping bags, and cleaning supplies—specifically, disinfectant, bleach, etc.
For questions, contact school resource officers Jimmy Luttrell, Adam Cravens, John Harris, or Mark Harris.
