Supplement to The LAMP of Delta Zeta, Issue 3 - 2011
The Alpha Gamma Chapter (University of Alabama/Tuscaloosa) and Alabama alumnae step up to help in the aftermath of the Alabama tornado.
(All photos courtesy of the Alpha Gamma Chapter [University of Alabama/Tuscaloosa])
On April 27, 2011, a large wedge tornado tracked across Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, including the southern and eastern portions of Tuscaloosa around 5:10 p.m. CDT, and continued northeast. Debris from the tornado was reported to be falling from the sky across Birmingham over 20 miles (32 km) away in Jefferson County. 
The National Weather Service has determined the path length of this violent tornado to be 80.7 miles (129.9 km) with a maximum damage path width of 1.5 miles (2.4 km). The tornado's most intense damage indicated peak winds of around 190 mph (310 km/h); therefore, it was given a final rating of EF4. Reports from Tuscaloosa indicated 43 people were killed, with over 1,000 injured. (Source: Wikipedia)
After this vicious tornado devastated Alabama in April, the fraternal community at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa was among the first to step up and help. The Delta Zeta Alpha Gamma Chapter house became a shelter for 150 people. Members of the chapter would spend the next two days cooking and serving hot meals to rescue workers.
Alpha Gamma member Riley Ganus (in the purple t-shirt) volunteers after the storm.
The Alpha Gamma Chapter joined fraternities and sororities at the university in organizing the UA Greek Relief Fund, a network that raised $180,000 for relief efforts (http://www.uagreekrelief.com/) and received and distributed hundreds of thousands of donated goods. It was the mission of UA Greek Relief to provide immediate relief for the Tuscaloosa Community and to bridge the gap between the immediate needs of the community and the establishment of long term relief agencies.
Alpha Gamma member Riley Ganus (right) with Bubba from the "Rick & Bubba Show" radio show, helping with clean up after the storm.
Riley Ganus with volunteers during the cleanup effort.
Alabama collegians and alumnae step up to help
Haley Clayton and Kristin Payne, T-shirt Co-Chairmen for the Alpha Gamma Chapter
Kristin Payne, T-shirt Chairman for the Alpha Gamma Chapter, says, "After the tornado, one of our sorority sisters suggested that I design a t-shirt to show our chapter's support for Tuscaloosa. I thought that it was a great idea, especially if we could turn it in to a fundraiser! Haley Clayton, Co-Chairman, had the brilliant idea to make the shirt available to other Delta Zeta chapters. Together, we contacted as many chapters as we could, inviting them to join us in our efforts. We had over 50 Delta Zeta chapters from all over the country participate in our fundraising project by purchasing t-shirts. We raised more than $2,000 from t-shirt sales, which we donated to UA Greek Relief and the American Red Cross. We would like to thank everyone who supported this project."
Collectively, the Alpha Gamma chapter completed over 1,026 hours of community service and donated $11,885 to tornado relief. The chapter prepared 500 meals and hosted the Baby Item Drive, then made numerous trips to West Alabama to distribute the much-needed baby supplies and meals. 
The chapter prepares over 500 meals for those in need after the tornado.
Alpha Gamma thanks the Tuscaloosa Alumnae Chapter, which helped the collegiate chapter members during this traumatic experience, as well as the Delta Zeta members across the country who contributed to Alpha Gamma's tornado relief efforts.
The refrigerator was stocked with sandwiches which would be distributed.
Meals are ready to go.
Baby supplies are collected for those in need after the storm.
Alpha Gamma collected clothing and shoes for children which were distributed after the tornado.
The Tuscaloosa Alumnae Chapter volunteered over 115 hours per member to help with cleanup and support in the aftermath of the tornado.
Alpha Gamma Chapter member Emily Price donating dog and cat food to the Tuscaloosa Animal Shelter after the tornado for the stray animals.
Laurel Walker, Alpha Gamma '07 (University of Alabama), makes an "unexpected visit home in the storm."
Laurel Walker, Alpha Gamma '07 (University of Alabama), who lived in North Carolina at the time of the storm, is an actress and dancer who was at the University of Alabama campus rehearsing for the Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre company's presentation. With a sudden warning from the director, the company was told to move to the back of the auditorium. Laurel says, "Sudden darkness veiled down upon us as we were settling into padded, auditorium seats. Giggles and guesses of some demonstration lesson of the stage from the audience perspective were whispered. Then the sound of buzzing, as if from a beehive, began from vibrating cell phones. A flood of texts and voicemails began to reveal the upcoming one-act play. A tornado was approaching, no was upon my college town, and the sting that was about to be performed would leave a devastating injury.
"Talk and chatter in concerned tones continued in the sound-tight theatre building. We were only aware of the Emergency Alert sirens that were screaming outside the hallowed hall as the curtain was falling, tornado moving out, indicating scene over.
"As suddenly as the weather began, the closing winds outside were made, lights restored in the Bama theatre and we arose from our spots to finalize the rehearsal session. Leaving through the back stage door and anxious for the next evening's performance, I drove the route across campus taken hundreds of times over the past four years. Not until I reached the third intersection did it dawn upon me that street lights were not aglow. In fact, the traffic light was ghosted, the only lights apparent were blue and red flashing lights just ahead near the street on which the 'Green House' sat, the place I called home this year.
"Moving numbly around my wounded but proud city, I began to notice my Delta Zeta sisters and other sororities and fraternity brothers helping families and business owners picking through remains. The university buildings had been bypassed but 'T-town' homes and properties had been impacted with a head-on collision. The community was in critical condition and my Crimson Tide family was on the front lines offering any help. The university, bathed in rich tradition and pride which produced a national championship, would not be toppled by this forceful foe.
"The epilogue of this nature-produced drama resulted in classes and finals being cancelled. Graduation ceremonies for my class of 2011 had to be postponed. The cast of players closest to me show my journalism professor who lost her home, a dance partner who lost everything but the clothes on his back, and three friends and members of a fellow sorority who, unbelievably, lost their lives. Currently, the estimated cost of repair for the college town may rise to 100 million. The estimated damage to the Bama Family is priceless.
"In the aftermath of that fateful storm, it is not the loss of the intended graduation date, end-of- college celebrations missed or even final farewells to friends and Bama family that bears on my mind. Instead, it is the intense gratefulness of spared life and perspective that the experience has gifted me. When panic and hopelessness could have consumed me, it was the unexpected visit of my mountain home through my mind's memory bank that consumed me for brief minutes. The thoughts of warmth from hometown spirit and folk had sustained me and blanketed me with calm and peace. Waynesville [North Carolina] served as my anchor and shall always remain the beat of my heart wherever my life's script directs me."*
Today, Laurel is pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at New York University in the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts.
As in times of tragedy and need, we see the generosity of helping others that is integral to Delta Zeta Sorority. We know that our members will meet the call to help valiantly and generously, as they did that April day in Alabama, and as the Sorority has done throughout our history.
*Reprinted with permission - The Mountaineer Publishing Co. Inc., Waynesville, North Carolina.
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