LifeSouth and The Valley’s CW helped individuals recovering from tornado damage. (RECORD PHOTO/GREGG PARKER)

MADISON, LIMESTONE COUNTIES – Residents in Limestone and Madison counties continue to recover from tornadoes that wreaked havoc to homes and properties on April 28. Fortunately, neighbors in the Tennessee Valley are helping.

On May 1, LifeSouth Community Blood Centers and Alabama in Action collaborated on a combined blood drive and collection drive for essential supplies at University Kia.

“The event was amazing,” Tamara Watts said. Watts works as LifeSouth’s communications development coordinator for North Alabama. “We collected a huge amount of clothing, pallets of water and toiletries.”

LifeSouth also met their daily goal for the bloodmobile to serve North Alabama.

Alabama in Action is the community outreach campaign sponsored by WHDF-TV – The Valley’s CW. The television station also partnered with Cumulus Huntsville, American Red Cross and Christmas Charities Year Round in the collection drive.

“Together, we sent out a desperate plea to our audiences, fans, friends and families and collected an amazing amount of donations,” WHDF General Manager C. Doug Sutton Jr. said. “It was truly humbling at the end of the day to see the generosity and compassion our community has for those affected by the tornado outbreaks.”

“Each donation was truly special, and we’re grateful. These donations will help put a smile on the neighbors’ faces that are in dire need,” Sutton said.

In addition, Maynard Cooper and Gale Attorneys collected $3,500 to donate to the American Red Cross and donated more than 4,000 bottles of water. Home Depot, BF Fasteners, Stone Creek Dental Care and Madison Hospital also supported the drive, Sutton said.

For more information about LifeSouth, call LifeSouth toll-free at 888-795-2707 or visit lifesouth.org.

The Valley’s CW’s address is 200 Andrew Jackson Way in Huntsville. For more information, call 256-536-1550, email to dsutton@thevalleyscw.tv or visit thevalleyscw.tv.