More tornado-relief aid pouring into west Alabama

HALE COUNTY, Ala. (WBRC) - Help for tornado victims comes in many forms. In Hale County, that help came in the form of BStrong boxes.

Crews unloaded pallets with 900 BStrong Global Empowerment Mission Family Necessities Kits in Sawyerville on Monday.

GEM delivered supplies and care packages to people recovering from Thursday’s storm.

“It’s really been devastating. We’re just thankful there was no loss of life. And they’re in need of a lot of things,” Hale County commissioners said Monday.

The President of GEM said they partnered with Bethenny Frankel’s BStrong Initiative and New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Sawyerville to offer support to tornado impacted communities in surrounding Hale County.

“This is an initiative trying to support communities after a disaster like this horrible tornado that you had here,” Michael Capponi expressed.

The pre-packaged boxes contain food, COVID-19 prevention kits, and personal hygiene products.

Valada Paige-Banks believes the gifts show just how much some people are willing to help others in need after a tornado.

“People have showed up in this area, in Sawyerville, in Greensboro. I’m just going to say in Hale County, to really support the people that were really damaged in the storm,” she explained.

Capponi added GEM would like to offer materials to help rebuild one of the community centers damaged by the tornado.

The GEM transport partner, Ignas Jurkonis’ NCS Group, with over 500 full-size semi-trucks ensures deliveries in the US within 24 to 72 hours of loading.

BStrong GEM kits are prepositioned in NCS-GEM hubs throughout the nation. This enables them to be proactive - not reactive - to disasters.

Each kit has a value of $100 to $180 depending on variations and each disaster’s specific needs. A donation of just $10 gets a kit to a family in need.

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