Students gather supplies for tornado victims

The school year at Marquette Senior High School may be winding down, but their National Honors Society chapter is gearing up to help heal the heartland.

Students have been bringing in supplies to support the relief effort since last Friday. As many as 28 tornadoes ripped through parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa and Illinois nearly 10 days displacing families and decimating towns along the way.

One student, in particular, took note of the devastation and sprung into action.

“I saw, on the Weather Channel, these gruesome pictures of entire communities collapsed, cleared. They had nothing. I saw people were living in tents. They were trying to get food from these handout carts. And I was just thinking, ‘We could do something about that. We

could get something. We could help them somehow,'” explained Andrew Middler, a National Honors Society member who initiated the school’s relief effort.

After talking with people helping out on the ground, hygiene products and cash donations are sorely needed.

“The goal is basically to get anything that can help. When you don’t really have anything,

every little bit helps. You know how when you take a shower in the morning you need body wash, you need shampoo, and you need a towel? Well they don’t have that. So, it’s just helping people get through their day,” Middler added.

Other schools, students, and even members of the community are encouraged to contribute to the collection in any way possible, aside from furniture, clothing and food. The supply drive runs through next Friday when a truck will head to Oklahoma to drop off the donations on site.