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By NATHAN HOWELL | Special to the Reporter

HELENA — On Jan. 26, tornadoes ripped through many areas of Alabama leaving at least one person dead and causing a significant amount of damage throughout the state.

Helena’s Scout Troop 2 immediately saw a need and put together a tornado relief project, where they would collect items to distribute to those who have been displaced or are otherwise in need of supplies.

Scoutmaster Lane Tolbert said that they knew after the storms came through that there would be an immediate need for supplies, so he asked for volunteers from the troop and set up a collection site at the CVS in Helena.

“We put this together last minute, but we probably had about 12-14 scouts there during the day, with a couple from Troop 532 coming to help us,” Tolbert said.

Following the storms, the scouts set up a tent at the CVS from 8 a.m.-4p.m., where they collected items to help those who were impacted by the devastating storms.

“We asked for things like water, gloves, socks, diapers, pet food, hygiene products, cleaning products and clothing among other things,” Tolbert said. “A lot of people dropped off clothing, one lady even brought in about 20 coats to donate.”

The goal of the collection was to help those in need, but it also showed the tenacity and giving nature of so many people who came together to support the cause, while the scouts worked together to ensure needs were met.

“The best thing about this is the spirit of helpfulness,” Tolbert said. “You see someone down and you want to do what you can to help them, and the scouts were all about doing that. There’s not a whole lot they were doing physically, but their presence out there was important.”

Overall, the collection event was a success with Troop 2 filling the back of a pickup truck and an enclosed trailer completely full of supplies.

After they were done, the supplies were taken to Fultondale City Hall, where the city will then decide how to distribute the items collected.

The community was a big part in making sure that those in need were able to get these much needed items.

“We had a great response from the community. We could not have taken anymore than we had,” Tolbert said.