NATCHEZ &045; A Franklin High School teacher and seven students spent part of their Wednesday school day in a makeshift warehouse on Morgantown Road.

Paulette Delaney said her students learned a lesson in community service as they loaded boxes of supplies onto a truck that will deliver the goods to Meadville for distribution to storm victims camped in rural areas of Franklin County.

&uot;They jumped at the chance to come and do this,&uot; Delaney said. &uot;These are students in a work program where they learn about getting and keeping jobs.&uot;

Rural Franklin County has numerous evacuees, Delaney said. &uot;We started looking for them. The first couple of days, we just roamed, starting at the deer camps. We found people there. By word of mouth, we found other people.&uot;

Like the evacuees filling Natchez shelters, those in rural areas also need assistance, she said.

The water, fruit, milk, juices and other supplies are part of the truckload of goods sent from Cleveland, Tenn., the national headquarters for Church of God.

The Rev. Paul Hayes, pastor at Natchez Church of God on McNeely Road, said Operation Compassion will provide another load of supplies on Friday.

&uot;We’ll help shelters, church groups, anyone who needs food resources. Anyone who wants to contact me can call the church at 601-445-5135,&uot; he said.

The denomination requires only that records list the donation and where it goes. &uot;We have to maintain the integrity of the process,&uot; Hayes said.

Steven Edwards, 17, one of the Franklin High students, said the day’s work was good for him and his classmates. &uot;It’s helping people out,&uot; he said. &uot;It’s really doing community service.&uot;

The Praise Cathedral in Meadville will be the focal point for distribution in Franklin County, Hayes said. Other deliveries will go to Gloster to be distributed in rural areas there, as well as to Natchez locations.