Tuscaloosa, Alabama—U.S. Mission Trips
Tuscaloosa is located in west Alabama on the Black Warrior River, 57 miles southwest of the capital of Birmingham. Native Americans originally made it their home. Among them was Chief Tuscaloosa, from whom the city derived its name. The University of Alabama opened in Tuscaloosa in 1831. Today, a Mercedes-Benz assembly plant anchors the city’s industrial base.
Tuscaloosa is the seat of a county of the same name. Nearly 23 percent of children under 18 in Tuscaloosa County live in poverty, according to the Kids COUNT Data Center in 2009. About 36 percent of children live in single-parent families.
A tornado tore through Tuscaloosa County in April 2011, killing 52 people and devastating the community. In Holt, a low-income unincorporated area just east of Tuscaloosa, the tornado destroyed 247 houses and 114 mobile homes and damaged many more structures, according to reports by the state of Alabama and FEMA.
World Vision responded immediately with relief supplies. We continue to distribute school supplies to schools in low-income areas in Tuscaloosa County and building materials to affected families. In the year following the tornado, World Vision served 16,000 families and 25,000 children in the county.
Mission trip volunteers will help rebuild homes and sort and distribute supplies to World Vision’s local partners.
Purpose
To teach the spiritual discipline of servanthood and to apply the principles of Christ-centered community transformation as we support the community's efforts to care for children affected by the tornado.
Partners
Samaritan’s Purse, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), Compassion Coalition, local churches, and Tuscaloosa city and county school systems.
Where
In and near Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Who
Congregations, families, and other teams; must be 16 and older.
| 2012 Dates | Maximum Group Size |
November 23-25 |
25 |
|
|
Trips are open to adults and youths at least age 16.
Per-participant fee: $180. In addition, each group will be required to pay a group fee for building materials. The group size is used to calculate the required fee. (Please see chart below.)
| Building Material Fee for Disaster Relief Trips* | |
| Group Size | Minimum Required Fee |
1-7 |
$600 |
8-15 |
$1,200 |
16-25 |
$1,800 |
26-34 |
$2,300 |
35-45 |
$2,800 |
46-60 |
$3,500 |
61-100 |
$5,000 |
*Required minimum fees for building supplies are based on the size of the disaster relief group or adult group.
