Cross Plains woman heads up effort to help tornado victims in Alabama

Wanda English Burnett
Editor

Reaching out to tornado victims in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, might seem like a stretch to some, but not Tammy Welch, who says she is basing her effort on the scripture that says “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Welch is spearheading the effort to not only gather items for those who have endured these horrific storms, but to take the items to them and volunteer there for a while.
“I feel like it’s something I can do,” Welch told The Versailles Republican. She said hearing about the tragic losses touched her heart and she knew she needed to do something.

But, Welch knows she can’t do it alone. So she has asked for help from her church, Cross Plains Church of Christ and sister church, Versailles Church of Christ. Then, she opened it up to the community asking anyone who is willing to give a little to help make people’s lives in the south a little easier.

There are drop-off points set up at the Odyssey Salon, Ripley Publishing Co., Friendship State Bank, and MainSource Bank in Versailles; and both the Versailles and Osgood offices of the United Community Bank.

Specific items needed include: baby supplies such as bottles, formula, diapers, wipes, pacifiers, and sleepers. Non-perishable food items are needed along with new or gently used clothing in all sizes and children’s tennis shoes.

Toiletries are needed along with paper towels, bottled water, Gatorade, sunscreen, and small toys to entertain children.

Schools, along with all their supplies have been obliterated in the storms that swept through the south killing hundreds of people. They are in need of school supplies, coolers, flashlights, tarps (black and blue), work gloves, trash bags, and cloth grocery bags.

Some members of the Welch family will be personally taking the items to Tuscaloosa, where Tammy has been in close contact with the United Way. She looks at it as not only a mission for the churches involved, but a mission for everyone to reach across the miles and touch someone with love in the form of material goods that are sorely needed.
The deadline to have items at a drop off point is Monday, May 16.

Eric and Tammy Welch have also opened their home on Sunday from 1—5 p.m. for those who would like to bring items directly to them. They are located South of Cross Plains on State Road 129.