ORANGE PARK – A normal day for W.E. Cherry Elementary School Principal Angie Whiddon involves the usual daily administration – with a few caveats.

When a student or teacher is in trouble, she writes the name and the need on the back of whatever paper is available and takes funds from the school’s Student in Need Fund, which is stocked with donations from local nonprofits and residents.

There are times, however, when the demand becomes too great and the school arranges special accommodations for traumatized communities. They’re currently doing this for ailing communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, which blew through earlier this month.

The school’s guidance counselor lives in St. Augustine, which likely saw the worst brunt of damage from the category three hurricane in all of the tri-county area, made of St. Johns, Duval and Clay counties.

“This is a little more than I was expecting myself, people’s whole lives are on their front lawn,” said W.E. Cherry Bookkeeper Michelle Solomon as she drove through a St. Augustine neighborhood after the storm. “Everything that was in their house is outside by their trash. There’s nothing in these houses, everything’s outside.”

The elementary school decided to help not only their teacher, but also many affected in the disaster. They posted to the social media network Facebook asking for donations of totes, cleaning supplies, bottled water and restaurant gift cards to add to residents’ cleanup efforts following the hurricane.

The public responded tremendously.

School workers packed two minivans full of supplies and shipped them over to the Nation’s Oldest City on Oct. 10, and less than a week later towed a trailer of donated goods held together with bungie cords to distribute in neighborhoods.

There have been roughly 4,700 flood claims in the state after Hurricane Matthew, and about 2,700 of them have come from St. Augustine. Storm surge poured over the sea barrier and flooded homes and businesses. Officials in St. Augustine estimated damages at several million dollars, and it’s unclear how long recovery might take.

The school has some experience with the exercise, however. On May 3, when Murray Leon Lancaster shot and killed Erica Green Lancaster, Valorie Short and her father, Welland “Buddy” Short, the school brought food donated from families, teachers and parents to first responders, many of whom knew the victims.

“We need to help her, but if we’re going to help her then let’s try to help as many people in her area as we can,” said Assistant Principal Jarrod Eason. “Even though St. Augustine isn’t part of Clay County, it is still near and dear to our hearts and it’s part of the First Coast community. It’s the right thing to do because we’re decent people and they’re another piece of the W.E. Cherry family.”

Eason recalled his time on the island of Guam in the western Pacific Ocean where his father lived while serving in the U.S. Navy. Eason was 11 when a string of typhoons hit his home, ripping the roof off and flooding his cinderblock structure with four inches of water, ruining many of his personal belongings.

He said his experience gives him a special outlook on the situation facing residents of St. Augustine.

Public service is a duty seemingly engrained in the school’s psyche, perhaps because the school has made a concerted effort to help their students who struggle the most in their home life due to money issues.

W.E. Cherry is one of seven Title 1 schools in the Clay County School District, meaning it receives federal financial aid to care for the 94 percent of students who live below the poverty line. It is also an “A” rated school.

“This is what W.E. Cherry does, we care about people and we’re always trying to help,” Solomon said. “I sent out a Facebook message to our peeps at W.E. Cherry telling them about the things that people need and we had it. We had two cars full plus two vans, in no time at all.”

Residents who wish to donate can drop off items at the front office or call the school at (904) 278-2050