three things thursday - tornado edition.

i am gonna try my best to keep this 3 things thursday as short as they normally are, but i wanted it to have a theme.  it has been 8 days since the tornado ripped through my college town and though i can now watch the news or read stories without busting into tears, I feel it should not be forgotten about.  Yes, it was and is great news that Bin Laden was killed, but with the breaking of that story, the reports of Alabama and Georgia and Tennessee and the tornado have been pushed to the side.  And this is not a time to forget or move on.  There are still people missing, donations of money and supplies are still greatly needed, and the states still have broken hearts

One thing that has made me so so so proud to be an Alabama fan is that our love for Tuscaloosa does not stop at football and bear bryant and saturdays in the stadium, we have a LOVE for the University and the town.  Yeah, we may bring out 90,000 people for a spring football game but the out pouring of people wanting to support and rebuild that town has been and I think will continue to be amazing. 

1. this past saturday the atlanta alabama alumni association held a fundraising event at one of atlanta's "alabama bars".  For each Sam Adams beer that was sold 100% of the proceeds went to tuscaloosa and all the proceeds of merchandise sold went to t.town. {some random spectatur told me i needed to be in a marketing commercial}  And... $8500 was raised!! YEAH!  AND.... we filled 3 car loads and a U-Haul full of supplies, tarps, food, toiletry items and clothes!! Many thanks to the auburn and ole miss alums that came out!! We appreciate and thank you!!!
2.  i am so sad for not only the people who lost everything. but the pets.  every day i think about the scared animals who are wondering what happened to their home, their city, and their owners.  Every day I look at the lost puppies and cats that need to be reunited with their owners and it breaks my heart to see their sad eyes  But, can we please take this as a lesson.  Having a collar on your animal is not enough.  I do not care if your pet is an "indoor pet" ... it needs a collar with tags that can help the pet be reunited with the owner.  Yes, I know and understand that there is a chance the wind yanked the collar off, but please tag your dog!  And if you're going to spend the money to have your furbaby chipped, please keep that info up to date.  I have been telling Kyle that I am going to spray paint my phone number on Mulligan's back! I really hope the animals can be reunited with their families soon. 
3.  I am heading to tuscaloosa Memorial Day weekend to volunteer. I have been wanting to go back to that town for SO long and I feel this is a really good reason.  Kyle and I are going to dedicate the weekend to helping out with the pets, trying to get them back to the owners or fostered out until they can be reunited with their owners.  I hope I do not come back with another dog.  I feel like the least I can do is give back to the town that gave so much to me.  If you're in Atlanta and want to send donations (clothes, toiletry items, pet supplies) let me know.  I can and will deliver it for you!!!

I saw this article the other day and some people think the timing is not right but when I read it, I saw it as a journalist looking to cheer for a University and a town that has been through so much. 

....if you're wanting to help out the state of alabama you can of course donate to the red cross.  If you want to donate supplies or anything, let me know and I can get you linked up with a donation site.  Auburn has done an amazing job with Toomers for Tide and they have many donation sites set up in most states.  There is SO much hate between Alabama and Auburn I can only hope that between the trees and this the hatred dies down a bit.