UT President Randy Boyd supplies East Tennessee with relief funding

University of Tennessee president and philanthropist Randy Boyd and his family drove directly to flood-stricken areas earlier this month to ask local leaders exactly what they need to help rebuild and restore.

The Boyd Family has responded with a $500,000 donation to Johnson County and $1 million each to Carter, Unicoi, and Cocke counties through his foundation. The Boyd Foundation consists of Jenny and Randy Boyd, Thomas and Lindsey Boyd, and Harrison Boyd.

Boyd is asking other business leaders in Tennessee to step up and help out causes that help flood victims.

In Elizabethton, the county seat of Carter County, Jenny and Randy Boyd met with Mayor Patty Woodby. She told them that the town of Hampton had lost its historic high school and that 450 students were now being crammed into an elementary school with a shortage of books and supplies and with no computers.

While visiting Erwin in Unicoi County, Randy Boyd said the couple discovered that “none have suffered more.” The most pressing problem, he said, is the lack of water treatment. In addition, the community has lost its animal shelter and sixty percent of its industrial park. Eighteen homes are destroyed and 100 more have serious damage. The largest employer is closed indefinitely.

(IMAGE: The Knoxville-based Boyd Foundation has donated a total of $3.5 million to hurricane relief efforts across Carter, Cocke, Johnson and Unicoi counties. Randy and Jenny Boyd visited mayors and community leaders throughout Northeast Tennessee on Sunday, Oct. 5, including Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby. Pictured from left: Jenny Boyd, Mayor Patty Woodby and Randy Boyd. / Boyd Foundation)