Donations may be dropped off at AIDB Hawkins Chapel. Contact the Advancement Office at 256-761-3206, 256-761-3318, 256-493-4092, 256-761-3207 or 256-761-7940 beforehand to let them know you will be dropping something off.
Needed items include children’s and adult’s clothing, underwear (new only), diapers, bottles and formula, blankets and towels, furniture, dishes, children’s toys, non-perishable food and bottled water.
Cash donations can also be made to the AIDB Foundation-Tuscaloosa Regional Center.
“AIDB Field Services Director Karla Smith said regional centers in Birmingham, Huntsville and Shoals are also serving client needs in their areas that were hard hit, such as DeKalb and Franklin counties. They will pass along specific needs as they are determined,” according to a press release.
The release goes on to say that the regional centers themselves were spared any physical damage and power and telephone connections had been restored at all of them. Many of the families they served were not so fortunate, however.
“In Tuscaloosa,” according to the release, “two children served in our early intervention program lost their lives when they were snatched from their grandmother’s arms.”
The two little girls were 3 years old and 11 months old, according to Foundation Director Lynne Hanner. The grandmother, who was left holding only the blanket the girls were wrapped in, remained hospitalized Wednesday afternoon.
“The force of the storm just sucked them right out of her arms,” Hanner said. “They were both dead when they were found. It’s just incredibly tragic.”
“Several families are still unaccounted for and still others have lost everything, including their homes, cars and belongings,” the release says. “Tuscaloosa Regional Director Jan McGee estimates that 50 AIDB consumer families were impacted or displaced by the tornadoes. She is working to find temporary housing in the area for families, but this is a tremendous challenge given the widespread devastation.”
The release also says that “the April 27 tornado outbreak in Alabama is being described as the second worst tornado in U.S. history. The death toll continues to rise, and hundreds are still missing. We are truly grateful that most of AIDB was spared the devastation so many people are living through, but it is certainly a day none of us will soon, if ever, forget.”
Hanner said she spoke with McGee Tuesday afternoon. “They made homemade soup. The oldest person they served was a 90-year-old blind man. The youngest was a child 12 days old.”
Contact Chris Norwood at cnorwood@dailyhome.com.
