Scholarship honors Shannon Brown’s daughter
Tuscaloosa News – May 12
There isn’t anything Shannon Brown can do to bring his daughter back, but the former University of Alabama football player is doing all he can to make sure the memory of Loryn Alexandria Brown is carried on in exactly the way it should. Brown, whose daughter was killed by the tornado that severely damaged Tuscaloosa on April 27, has established the Loryn Alexandria Brown Memorial Endowed Scholarship…She had set and reached a goal of attending UA, and, after taking classes at Shelton State, had been accepted to start classes at UA in August…Brown said UA will set up the criteria formally, and that a member of the Brown family will sit on the selection committee. Donations to the fund can be sent to National Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship Program, P.O. Box 861928, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35486. Brown said a UA alumni chapter and several supporters who have chosen to remain anonymous have agreed to match donations to the fund…
UA students help coordinate volunteers
Crimson White – May 12
As volunteers continue to pour into Tuscaloosa from around the nation, the Volunteer Reception Center, located at McAbee Center off Veteran Memorial Parkway, is attempting to provide more structure to the relief effort. A group of UA students have become central to that process…Richard Cockrum, a senior majoring in chemistry and a member of the Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters logistics team, said Fridays and Saturdays are the busiest days at the McAbee Center, with many large groups coming on those days…Andrew Price, a UA master’s student in electrical engineering, is working at the McAbee Center to develop databases for both volunteer information and damage assessment of city buildings. Eventually he plans to create a system to match volunteers’ skills with needs of different areas, as outlined by AmeriCorps damage assessments…In total, about 40 UA students have been involved in coordinating volunteer efforts through the McAbee Center, many of them a part of the University Fellows Experience program in the Honors College. The Fellows typically organize an annual community immersion experience in Marion, Ala. during interim, but the program was moved to Tuscaloosa because of the devastation caused by the tornado…
Students were some of first responders after tornado
Crimson White – May 12
…Among them was Alex Rayfield, a junior majoring in civil engineering. The Montgomery native left his neighborhood with his brother, Hunter, and immediately began search and rescue. Alex Rayfield said he and his brother didn’t wait a full 30 minutes before beginning to work. “Thirty minutes after the storm hit, my brother, he’s certified community emergency response team (CERT), gave me a quick one over,” Rayfield said. “We drove to DCH and started going through houses in Cedar Crest.”…“There was a nursing home that got hit pretty hard and we helped transfer all the elderly people to another nursing home that day,” Rayfield said. “We were out there in Holt and we had cadaver dogs with us the whole time out there and wherever they found something, we would just start digging.”…Blake said students helped greatly by recovering the injured and bringing them to the paramedics instead of forcing the paramedics to navigate the blocked roads. “Of the thousands of people that helped us, many were University students, and we appreciated everything that they did,” Blake said…
Southern schools show outpouring of support for Tuscaloosa
Crimson White – May 12
An EF-4 tornado not only swept the city of Tuscaloosa and the state of Alabama on April 27; it broke down the barriers built from intense football rivalry in the SEC. Wildcats, tigers, gamecocks, two types of bulldogs, gators, vols, commodores and even bald eagles have joined in the disaster relief efforts to aid the University of Alabama at this time…The SGA immediately partnered with an alumnus, Grant Mills, and the local chapter of “Wrap Up America” to send blankets to people in trouble, according to University of Kentucky spokeswoman Katy Bennett. She said people could go online to donate 3 dollars, which will send a blanket to Alabama…So far they have received 800 blankets, which are being sent directly to the SGA at the University of Alabama for distribution to those in need. “The entire University of Alabama community greatly appreciates the support from Wrap Up America, as well as the countless other groups that have provided support since the devastating tornado tore through the Tuscaloosa area,” UA SGA President Grant Cochran said in an official statement….“I actually graduated high school with Grant Cochran, and so I checked in with him the night the storm hit to find out what we could do at that point to help out,” said Mississippi State University Student Association President Rhett Hobart. “I wanted to find a way to partner our student governments and student bodies to help each other out. Obviously there is a rivalry surrounding the student bodies, but when something like this comes up, you have to put that aside and help out.”…
Storm briefs: May 12
Tuscaloosa News – May 12
…The University of Alabama Recycling Center and Waste Recycling are accepting paper, cardboard and certain plastic products from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Both companies collect the same household waste materials collected by the city. Neither accepts glass products. The UA Recycling Center is at 1115 14th St., just behind 15th Street Diner. A blue sign next to the gate will guide patrons in to the recycling bins. For directions, call 205-758-1838…