Three city interns were among the many unsung heroes of Tuscaloosa following the aftermath of the deadly EF4 tornado last April.

The students, John Bishop, Meredith Lynch and Matt Calderone, were all interning for Mayor Walt Maddox and the city government when the tornado forced them to play unexpected roles.

“I think I would have been paralyzed where I stood if someone pointed to me, but these students who were interning for us just stepped up and did miraculous things, and I think it’s a testament to what young people can do,” Maddox said.

John Bishop

Maddox said Bishop was the person he turned to at staff meetings following April 27 and said, “How are we feeding these people?”

“A lot of times mayors get too much credit, but when you turn to a young man and say ‘Let’s go out there and feed 30,000 people,’ and he’s coordinating with the National Guard, he’s coordinating with the Alabama EMA, he’s representing the city of Tuscaloosa,” Maddox said of Bishop.

Bishop said Maddox asked him to find several locations across the city that could be designated as city-sponsored aid stations almost immediately after the storm.

Throughout all of these relief efforts, Bishop was coordinating with Calderone, who was in charge of finding out what the tornado victims needed and which aid station the items would be sent to.

Bishop received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration. He recently entered Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham.

“In light of the tornado, I believe I developed crisis management skills, especially under the circumstances,” Bishop said. “I had not yet technically finished my Master’s degree, and I was given the directive to coordinate as much food, water and necessities for many people.”

Bishop’s humble character is one his fellow interns were quick to mention.

“It was an honor to work with someone like John Bishop,” Calderone said. “At one point we were checking on aid stations. His grandfather worked for Alabama Power, so he knows how hard those men work. He had to pull over so he could thank the workers, all of them. He found it important to thank the people that weren’t getting the press they deserved.”

Matt Calderone

The evening after the tornado, Calderone received an email from the City Clerk soliciting his help.

“I was sent to St. Matthias Church, where I was under the impression that I was down there as a volunteer, but I started receiving calls from state representatives and I realized I was in charge of handling and distributing all the materials the city would use for relief,” Calderone said. “I felt like I was in a sink or swim scenario, but more than that, I viewed it as an opportunity for growth.”

From there, Calderone transitioned to the McAbee Center, where he worked with the University Fellows in setting up a call center where residents affected by the storm could call for relief.  Throughout the summer, Calderone helped with a myriad of different projects.

“I worked with Habitat for Humanity; we were rebuilding houses,” he said. “We worked to try to get the word out to different student organizations on campus to get involved. I also worked with the Honors College on everything from houses to playgrounds to literacy centers.”

One of Calderone’s proudest achievements was a 15-page essay he wrote on an initiative Maddox started. The essay won the National City Visibility Award at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. This fall, Calderone’s goals are to get UA students involved in the relief efforts, as well as raising money to rebuild.

“It’s a horrible event, but you can’t pay for the experience you get from working disaster relief,” he said. “I was able to learn so much working with the mayor and the exceptional people he surrounds himself with.”

Calderone, currently a junior majoring in political science, said he plans to attend law school after completing undergrad.

“Before working disaster relief, I was looking at out-of-state law schools, such as NYU or Columbia,” Calderone said. “But after working so closely with the city of Tuscaloosa, I’d like to look somewhere closer to home, such as Cumberland School of Law or stay here at Alabama.”

Meredith Lynch

Meredith Lynch was not involved in the same relief efforts as Bishop and Calderone.

“After the tornado, nearly all of my duties and responsibilities changed,” Lynch said. “In an effort to maintain accurate and up-to-date communication between ourselves, as the Mayor’s Office, and the rest of the community, I would often work 12-14 hour days gathering as much information as possible that we could tweet and re-tweet to our followers.”

Residents of Tuscaloosa became aware of the opportunities to receive help and stay aware of what was going on in the city through Facebook and Twitter. Lynch was the source behind the frequent updates to these social media sites.

“In the days following the tornado, we scheduled and participated in as many interviews as we could with media across the country, and even the world, so that we could spread our message that people in our city needed help and we needed resources to help our city,” Lynch said.

Lynch said she has become a more confident writer, learned how to utilize social media, how to network, among other skills, through interning in the city office.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Milligan College in Communications with an emphasis on public relations and digital media, and her master’s degree at the University of Alabama in advertising and public relations, Lynch has stayed inside the business.

“After investing so much time and energy into the tornado recovery effort, I knew I didn’t want to leave Tuscaloosa,” she said. “I wanted to be a part of the recovery effort in any way that I could because I had built such a strong connection to the City.”

Lynch, now the public relations coordinator for Incident Command for the City of Tuscaloosa, was promoted following her relief work.