On April 27th, a deadly 200mph tornado swept through the South, leaving devastation and destruction to many areas. One of the areas most affected was Tuscaloosa, AL, home of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. In response to this disaster, Jeff Allen, MS, ATC, Director of Sports Medicine at the University of Alabama has asked his SEC Colleagues for help in their relief effort. His letter reads as follows:"SEC Colleagues,
As you are all aware, our city has suffered indescribable damage from the tornado on Wednesday. I can't thank each of you enough for the countless calls, emails, and text messages. Every member of our staff has received so many messages from our SEC friends.
Many of you have asked how you can help. We have an urgent need on our staff. A house where 4 of our Athletic Training GA's lived was completely destroyed and they lost everything. Thankfully, although they were in the house, they walked away.
We have set up a fund to provide them with anything they need to return their lives to some normalcy. If you are interested, donations can be made by sending a check made out to the University of Alabama. In the memo section, designate it for "Athletic Training Gift Account".
We have been blown away by the response from every school in our conference and can't thank you enough for your support. Please pray for our city and our entire region as we recover from this tragedy.
Thank You, Jeff Allen
Director of Sports Medicine
University of Alabama"
It is hard to completely understand the magnitude of their situation, but so many of us from Louisiana can relate to the enormity of their tragedy. It's been close to 6 years since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the homes and lives of so many our athletes and athletic trainers. That August, an email that went out to our close friends asking for help...just like Jeff's. We had an incredible response from athletic trainers all over the country that wanted to help. Alabama was one of those Universities that came to our aide. Now it is our turn! Our staff is asking that we all help them in their time of need. You can send donations (checks or gift cards in any amount) to us, and we will send everything we receive directly to Jeff Allen. We will forward your gifts exactly how we receive them. This way they will know the individuals or school that has made the contribution to their relief efforts. I am hoping that sending the donations in bulk will help reduce the risk that it will get lost in their postal system that has likely been compromised.
In order to expedite these relief efforts, the LSU Athletic Training Staff is asking that anyone wishing to donate to the relief fund make checks payable to "University of Alabama" with "Athletic Training Gift Fund" in the memo field. These checks and other donations in the form of gift cards, etc should be sent to the address below, where they will be sent as a group to the University of Alabama:
Louisiana State University Athletic Training
ATTN: Shelly Mullenix
PO Box 25095
Baton Rouge, LA 70894
If you would like to send your donations directly to Jeff Allen, please email me for his address: smulle1@lsu.edu
Please take the time to help our friends and colleagues who lost so much in this devastating tragedy.