On April 27 a deadly tornado devastated Tuscaloosa, Ala., prompting an outpouring of generosity by the LSU community. Students, faculty and staff donated more than 50 boxes of toiletries and clothes to the Tigers for the Tide relief effort, a collaboration of many campus organizations.
However, as of July 12, two and a half months after the storm, the donated items remained in Baton Rouge, almost 350 miles away from the victims in need.
On June 9, The Daily Reveille reported the donated items had already been shipped, as we were told by members of Tigers for the Tide. However, on June 15 Student Government Senate Speaker Aaron Caffarel told The Daily Reveille not only had the items had not been shipped, but some donations still needed sorting.
SG President Cody Wells told The Daily Reveille June 23 the items were finally fully sorted, however Josh Dean, Volunteer LSU adviser, said in the same story Tigers for the Tide was still waiting on a truck to ship the donations. On Wednesday, two and a half weeks after the sorting was reported complete, the donations finally shipped.
While a relief effort such as this one takes time to plan, organize, collect and sort, two and a half months is too much time to send aid to victims literally left homeless, especially considering the items were shipped two months after the deadline to drop-off donations.
While sorting does take man-power and time, five weeks is a long time to box donations. And the two weeks the sorted items sat idle in Baton Rouge is simply inexcusable.
Where was the hold up? Was it the Athletic
Department, who was supposed to donate the truck? Was it poor planning on the part of Tigers for the Tide? Caffarel said SG was only responsible for sorting and Dean was in charge of shipment. When asked by The Daily Reveille about the delay in shipping, Dean would not comment. Why couldn’t Tigers for the Tide find a truck?
Mississippi State donated a U-Haul truck a week after the storm to the Mississippi State University Student Association, which was able to get relief items to Tuscaloosa almost immediately. Why did it take LSU more than two months to produce a truck?
We commend the generosity of the LSU community and the dedication and hard work of volunteers. Putting together a relief effort as big as Tigers for the Tide is a tremendous task — and to organize and work during finals time is even more admirable. But at some point, someone dropped the ball, and victims in Tuscaloosa are the ones to suffer the consequences.
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