In the days after the April 27 tornado, people have found multiple ways of contributing to those who were directly affected, either by volunteering to hand out provisions, collecting and organizing items or raising funds to donate.
Angie Waldrep of Arley, Ala., began making and selling T-shirts to benefit tornado relief efforts.
“I have a 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter, so I am not able to go out and do much physically, so this was my way of contributing back to the victims of this horrific day,” Waldrep said. “When I designed the shirts it was to donate to the specific areas and not to pad the pockets of an organization. We are charging $15 for the shirts sized from 2T – XL and $18 if they are shipped and $2 extra for all shirts 2XL or bigger.”
At a minimum, Waldrep said, $8 per shirt will be donated, but she hopes to be able to contribute more if distributers can work with her to create more cost-effective deals.
Similarly, the University has created a shirt—advertised on rolltide.com—to benefit storm victims. The cost per shirt is about $20, and all proceeds will go toward disaster relief except the costs of shipping and handling, which UA spokesman Doug Walker said will total about $6.
“Fifteen percent of all proceeds from all other merchandise will also be donated,” Walker said.
Chris Ivey, CEO of Triton Performance Apparel L.L.C., said after watching the events unfurl and the following destruction, he came up with the motto “T-Town, Never Down.”
Late Thursday night, he designed and launched the website.
“I only ordered 156 shirts to start off with (and I was a little nervous about it), but the site sold 548 shirts on Friday alone,” Ivey said. “It was a given that 100 percent of the profits would be donated to the relief efforts, and I decided to donate all of the funds to the Tuscaloosa Disaster Relief Fund after the mayor established it through GiveTuscaloosa.com to make sure the funds went directly to the people of Tuscaloosa.” After the first five days, Ivey said, the website sold 3,681 shirts, resulting in a total donation of $32,135.80.
“We will continue this campaign as long as it is helping the relief effort in Tuscaloosa,” he said.
