The Southeastern Conference is pledging $500,000 to the University of Alabama to help storm victims. The money will be donated to the UA Acts of Kindness Fund, an emergency fund providing relief to UA students, faculty and staff.

“The SEC believes the monies donated should benefit the students, faculty and staffs at its institutions,”  SEC spokesman Charles Bloom said. “The league donated $1 million to LSU, Mississippi State and Ole Miss after Hurricane Katrina to take care of students who were displaced because of the storm and transferred to those schools.  The same principle was put into place for the donation to Alabama – to take care of those students, faculty and staff who were displaced because of the tornadoes.”

According to Bloom, the $500,000 sum, which comes from conference revenue, was agreed on by the league’s athletic directors. The donation is one of the highest single acts of giving in SEC history–besides the money given to schools impacted by Hurricane Katrina, the SEC also donated $1 million to a fund assisting victims of Sept. 11.

Currently the UA Acs of Kindness Fund has received donations totaling more than $1.7 million, including a $1 million donation from the UA Athletic Department.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.