Students Band Together for Tornado Victims

families are scrambling to pull together aid for the victims of Joplin’s recent devastating tornado before the end of school this week. Three groups are holding collections at the school: the band, the PSO and the counselors. All donations will be sent to Joplin by Friday.

Band Director Angela Albrecht is asking her students to donate directly to band students and their families in Joplin who lost everything in the recent disaster. Albrecht is responding to a request from fellow band director Diana Williams in Webb City, a town five miles from Joplin.

Williams sent out a call for help through Phi Beta Mu, a fraternity for band masters.

Albrecht read the letter from Williams to her students and sent out a copy to their parents via email on Tuesday. In the letter Williams said that she is collecting donations in the Webb City High School band room and is working with Joplin High School’s band director, Rick Castor, to aid his students. The letter said that most of Joplin’s band students have been accounted for, but that the high school is still trying to locate some members of their staff.

 “Band is like a family, so it’s like we’re helping our cousins,” Albrecht said. She said that telling her students they are helping kids just like themselves will make the disasters hit home, and hopefully encourage them to send aid.

“I know I often think there is nothing I can do, and I just let “other people” take care of it,” she said. Albrecht decided that in this case, her band could really make a difference. She is reaching out to the band to see if they will help gather donations and hopefully lend the use of their marching band truck to make the delivery to Webb City.

 “I have asked the students to go through their summer clothes from last year and if it doesn’t fit, and mom and dad say it is ok, please donate it.”

Albrecht is collecting donations until the end of school on Friday. She already started to receive donations just hours after emailing her band parents.

The PSO is also collecting gently used toys to donate to children in Joplin. A member of the PSO put a collection box near the front door of the middle school. Donations collected by the PSO will be delivered by Greg Koch, owner of in Fenton and will be sent to the Red Cross. Donations can also be dropped directly at the Re/Max office at the corner of Gladiator and Hwy 141.

Koch said that the St. Louis Board of Realtors challenged all their members to collect donations from the community. He is accepting donations of any aid that would be of immediate use to tornado victims in Joplin.

“I have an 18-foot truck. We’ll provide transportation for any donations from the community,” Koch said. Koch said he will take donations to a central collection point and the St. Louis Board of Realtors will handle the final shipment to the Red Cross in Joplin.

Koch will collect items until noon on Thursday and they will be delivered to Joplin on Friday.

The counselors at Rockwood South Middle School are offering a third way for student to pitch in and help. Seventh grade guidance counselor Jeff Winter will be collecting cash donations from students at lunch time.

Principal Linda Miller said they’ve done this type of collection before, like during the recent flooding of the Mississippi River. She said students can donate their spare change, perhaps what’s left over from their lunch money. Miller said they usually collect a few hundred dollars, and though it’s not much, it means a lot to the kids to be able to help out.

Update 5-27-11:

The band collected enough donations to completely fill both a pickup truck and Albrecht's car. On Friday afternoon, Albrecht and her husband Richard drove the donations to West Fort Zumwalt High School in O'Fallon where they will be combined with donations collected by other area band students. The donations will be loaded into a marching band equipment truck and driven to Webb City over Memorial Day weekend, where they will be distributed to Joplin band students and their families in need.