Though it’s been a week since a string of devastating tornadoes swept through the South, a whirlwind of relief efforts are just beginning. And the University is on board, according to Claire Biggs, mass communication senior.
Biggs is the organizer of a campus-wide relief effort to collect backpacks and supplies for University of Alabama students and citizens of Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“I [am collecting] backpacks because people are graduating soon,” Biggs said.
The campaign began this week, and Biggs said she has received an influx of supplies and support within just a few days.
“I had very few connections in Alabama, but within the past 12 hours I’ve made tons,” she said.
Biggs, who set up a Facebook page for the drive, said she is asking people to donate backpacks or tote bags filled with items.
She said she is collecting everything from toothbrushes to bug spray.
“When you hear ‘people need help,’ you think of money,” Biggs said. “But you don’t need to spend any money to help. Just donate things you have.”
Biggs said she plans to bring collected supplies to Alabama.
Biggs is also working with Student Government, Volunteer LSU, Greek Life and the Residence Hall Association to set up donation sites around campus.
SG President Cody Wells said the groups, which met Tuesday morning, want to create donation sites in every Greek house and residence hall.
Wells said the group is also trying to organize a blood drive through the American Red Cross and a donation through the “Acts of Kindness” fund.
Wells said though nothing is approved yet, the group should have final notice by 10 a.m. today.
If approved, Wells said relief information will be broadcast to all students.
“As a fellow member of the Southeastern Conference, we owe it to our friends and peer students to help them,” Wells said.
Chancellor Michael Martin also said the University stands ready to offer assistance to those affected.
“The thoughts and prayers of the entire LSU community are with all those seriously affected by the devastating storms that swept across the Southeast,” Martin said in a statement. “We are hoping for a speedy recovery for those harmed and for the communities impacted.”
But relief efforts expand beyond the University’s campus.
Twenty-five firefighters from the Baton Rouge area went to Alabama on Tuesday to help search ravaged communities near Tuscaloosa for people who are still missing, according to a Mayor’s Office news release.
The firefighters will be joined by others from around the state in response to a request for assistance from Alabama officials on Sunday, the release says.
Baton Rouge native Caroline Gladney, a finance senior at the University of Alabama, has returned to Baton Rouge to collect donations.
Gladney, who was in Tuscaloosa during the storm, will be traveling back and forth between Baton Rouge and Alabama transporting supplies.
“I’m asking for anything and everything,” Gladney said. “These people have nothing.”
 
How to help disaster victims
 http://cw.ua.edu/2011/04/30/ua-launches-program-to-collect-funds/
 
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Contact Sydni Dunn at [email protected]