George Hall Before

George Hall After

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College is one of five state higher education institutions to benefit from $7.7 million in Hurricane Katrina relief donations contributed through 27 foreign governments.

"I talked with Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and others within the department to make sure Mississippi received its fair share of these donated funds," Sen. Trent Lott said. "The list of foreign governments giving specifically toward rebuilding hurricane damaged schools is a diverse array of nations, some of which Americans have significant political, cultural and philosophical differences. However, just as we saw during the recent tsunami in Asia, these generous contributions reaffirm that beyond our differences lies a common link of humanity that binds all people together, especially when we experience natural disasters."

Gulf Coast will use its allotment of nearly $1 million dollars to help fund the re-construction of a storage facility to replace George Hall, the Perkinston Campus storage facility that was heavily damaged by Katrina on Aug. 29, 2005. Insurance money aided in the demolition of George Hall. However, more was needed to replace the building.

“We can’t thank Sen. Lott enough for making sure we’re included in this generous international relief effort,” said Dr. Mary Graham, Perkinston Campus vice president.