Monticello Residents fill U-Haul for Tornado Victims in Tuscaloosa – Video
May 24th, 2011 by SubmittedAfter seeing the photos and story on MLive, Lou Arnold offered to let us post the video that she made to present to their church about the ministy effort.
After hearing about the deadly tornadoes that swept through Alabama on April 27, Holli Wood’s first concern was for her long-time friend Ellen Wade. Wade, a former resident of Monticello, now lives in Tuscaloosa and sought shelter with her fiancé and friends in a house that took a direct hit from one of the tornadoes.
Once Holli knew that Ellen and her friends survived the tornado, she began to wonder what she could do to help those were not as fortunate. A comment on Ellen’s Facebook page about schoolchildren collecting items for schools damaged in the storms gave Holli the answer.
Holli began sending e-mails to friends, members of her church and people she had worked with to ask for donations to send to Tuscaloosa. By the next morning, word of the donation drive was spreading — especially through posts on Facebook.
Friends and friends of friends began sending donations. Many people cleaned out their closets and bought large quantities of toiletries and baby items from Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree. Holli watched as her garage was transformed into a temporary warehouse and the donations quickly replaced the family cars inside.
Brittany Adcock of Triple A Towing helped arrange for a U-Haul truck so Holli and her husband, Josh, could drive the items to Tuscaloosa. Family and friends gathered at Holli’s house on Friday, May 6 to sort, box and load the truck. The next morning, Holli & Josh head out for Alabama.
After a six-hour drive to Tuscaloosa, the Woods were escorted to a temporary distribution center set up to process all donations and send them where they were needed the most. As soon as the boxes from Monticello were unloaded from the U-Haul, they were sorted, placed on pallets and moved onto trucks ready to distribute them to the areas of need.
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Thanks for caring.
I’ve known Holli since she entered this world and have known Ellen for 21 years now. They have a wonderful friendship and I am glad to know that through Holli I was able to help out Ellen and her friends in Tuscaloosa.
It is nice to know there are caring people and true friendships in this world.
Thank you to each and every person who made a donation for the people of Tuscaloosa! They appreciated everything! I was honored to drive it there!
I have been blessed by Holli’s friendship for the past 27 years. The storms that hit Tuscaloosa were devastating, but because of the concern, prayers and generosity of people around the world including Monticello, Rayville, Little Rock and friends in other places, Tuscaloosa is not only surviving but coming out of this stronger.
I am thankful for Holli’s initiative and work in getting this together and here and thankful for all who donated items, money, time loading or organizing and the vehicle to make it possible.
The reaction to the storm here has made me proud to call Tuscaloosa my current home, but Monticello will always be home. I am thankful for all it has meant to me through the years and for the love you have continued to show me and others in this situation.
Ellen,glad you’re okay. It must be wonderful to have a friend who loves and cares for you so much. You are lucky to have Holli.
Holli,thank you for all you did and thanks to everyone who donated.