These days you can not turn on a single TV station without listening to live reports as well as seeing the devastating pictures of the tornado that destroyed the town of Joplin, MO. News stations are reporting that this has been the single most destructive tornado on record.
After watching the news and seeing all those who needed help our very own Shannon McDaniel, a senior Alpha Gamma decided she needed to do something to help.
Shannon, a Head Poms Coach for the Rock Bridge Bruin Girls decided to have her team raise money for those in Joplin and donate all the money that they raise to the Red Cross. Shannon and her team rasied over $400.
Despite raising money for the victims Shannon decided she needed to do more.
Shannon spent her Memorial Day Weekend in Joplin volunteering.
On her first day Shannon was bused out of Missouri Southern and dropped off at Joplin High School. When she arrived at the high school she was split up into a team where they then walked to one of the disaster areas across for the high school. It was there that her and her group were told to sift through and seperate lumber, metal, tree limbs, personal items and anything that could be salvaged.
Shannon expressed that when she arrived at the disaster area ” my initial thought walking through the neighborhood was that it looked like a scene from a movie, a million times worse than it looks on TV. Similar to a war zone.”
Looking at the disaster area “I began to cry especially as we continued walking and saw several families attempting to find personal items amongst all of the debris in what used to be their homes.”
After sifting through items in the disaster area Shannon and her group were sent back to a donation warehouse, where she went through donated items and organized them. All of the sorted items were boxed up and were being shipped to various shelters around the city to be distributed by FEMA.
On Sunday Shannon volunteered at a local shelter. She continued to sort through donated items but said “the most rewarding part of this job was seeing families come in and pick out items. These people literally had nothing but the clothes on their backs, so it was great to see them be able to pick out food and clothing at the shelter.”
Shannon as well as hundreds of other students from the University of Missouri have been showing their support for Joplin.
Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those in Joplin. The women of Alpha Gamma will continue to volunteer and support all those in Joplin.
Thank you Shannon for lending a hand to those in need!
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