Tornado Disaster Relief
On April 27, 2011, following a record 67 tornadoes that swept across North Alabama wreaking widespread damage and destruction, Unclaimed Baggage Center leapt into action to meet the needs of its own employees, then joined forces with the Salvation Army.
When the storms had passed, many pockets of complete devastation were discovered across the region, with homes damaged or destroyed. The total Alabama death count was 238. Of those, 52 were in immediate surrounding counties.
Businesses and more than 675,000 citizens lost electric service for up to a week. Unclaimed Baggage was closed for four days due to the power outage, a first in our history. Even so, our team was out in the community helping with the recovery efforts.
UBC quickly set up a communications network with approximately 100 employees using cell phones and driving to their homes when possible. Several staff members who were able to get to our supplies, as well as other stores for necessities, put together emergency kits to distribute to UBC employees.
Company relief efforts were then turned to surrounding communities. Unclaimed Baggage Center became a drop-off point for donations. UBC tapped its own vast inventory of clothes and household items – and also purchased additional goods – to distribute through the Salvation Army, which had set up a temporary disaster relief center in a nearby community.
Several employees, working alongside the Salvation Army, helped organize and deliver thousands of dollars of needed goods to affected areas. UBC employees paid for these helpers to work in the community during the recovery efforts, even after the store was reopened.
These UBC employees were also sent to work during company hours at the Salvation Army cantina, which served thousands of meals to displaced residents. These employees continued to donate their own personal time into the following weekend.
Owner Bryan Owens said, “We have a stewardship responsibility to take care of the employees of UBC and to use our resources to reach out to the community we call home.”
Helping Thousands See Clearly
09- 2-2011
We get thousands and thousands of reading, sun and prescription eyeglasses each year. Out of all the eyeglasses that we receive we donate thousands of these pairs to our local chapter of The Lions Club International for their Sight First program.
In 1925, Helen Keller challenged The Lions Club to become "knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness." And they accepted. They in turn, spend countless volunteer hours assessing the glasses and determining what type of prescription they are. They are then carried to different parts of the world, where the Lions volunteer their time and resources to provide quality vision care in desolate areas.
Unclaimed Baggage is proud to be a major donor to this wonderful program. Do you know anyone who has benefited from The Lions Clubs’ Sight First program?
Giving Back
Unclaimed Baggage proudly partners with the following non-profit organizations:
