Neighbors helping neighbors

Staff photo | Michelle Lepianka Carter
Volunteers hand out supplies at the former Locklear dealership to people affected by the April 27 tornado.

From the Tuscaloosa News:

“I'm from Anniston, but this is my home now,” Wood said. “I've been doing mission trips since I was 12, so getting out here was natural at this point. It breaks my heart to see my town changed this drastically, and it's going to take a long time to clean up.

“But every hand helps.”

Meanwhile, volunteers from all over the area made their way to Tuscaloosa to help out in the tornado relief effort.

Coker

John Baird, who lives in Coker, made his way into Tuscaloosa on Saturday because he wanted to help victims of the devastating April 27 tornado.

“Being as close as I was to the tornado, and just seeing it and just knowing that I was spared, my home was spared, everything that I had was spared, I just wanted to go come out and do good for others,” Baird said.

Baird was one of hundreds of volunteers who assembled at St. Matthias Episcopal Church on Skyland Boulevard. The church was a staging area to assign workers to various tasks throughout the city.

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Such outpourings are normal, and the huge grassrooots relief efforts were completely ignored by the press after Hurricane Katrina hit.

When I lived in various areas in the Midwest, the local churches would immediately sponsor trips to help after local disasters (including tornadoes, wild floods, fires, and hurricanes), and this doesn't include the guys who just got filled their pickup truck with supplies, including tools and shovels, and drove into the disaster areas to help, or the folks who sheltered family or friends for free while they took trips to the area to fix up the damaged home.

A note from an email to Instapundit:

Chuck Simmins writes: “One of the best things about the region stricken by the tornado outbreak is that it is full, to the brim, with non-governmental, faith based disaster agencies. The Southern Baptists have a well established disaster kitchen set up. The Mormons, of course, have loads of assets. Self help in the area is going to be very impressive if it gets reported by anyone at all.”