TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Dozens of University of Alabama students are spending their short fall break to help with hurricane recovery efforts in the Florida Panhandle.
About 40 students with Bama Beyond planned to be in Panama City, Florida, this weekend, The Tuscaloosa News reported.
“We are just the hands that can pull stuff out of the way,” senior Abby Greenwell said.
The group is part of the Center for Service and Leadership on the Tuscaloosa campus. The students use breaks during the academic year for community service projects.
Hurricane Michael tore through the Florida Panhandle with 155 mph (250 kph) winds on Oct. 10, and also affected Georgia, Alabama and other states.
Bama Beyond typically spends its breaks in the fall, winter and spring helping in other communities, Greenwell said. Students went to Houston last year to help after Hurricane Harvey.
The students will be working with Operation Blessings International and staying at Lighthouse Church in Panama City Beach, Florida.
The college students will help clear debris in the storm-wracked community, Greenwell said.
“When I was growing up, I had a lot of people in the community who helped my family out,” said sophomore Abigail Steele.
Greenwell noted the response from outsiders to the April 27, 2011, tornado in Tuscaloosa.
“We just had an outpouring of love and support from every corner of the country,” she said. “We just want to pay that support forward.”
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