Furman's women's basketball helps in Alabama

Furman forward Martha Robinson thought she was prepared for what she might see in tornado-ravaged Alabama. She was wrong.

Robinson had watched video of devastation from April's string of deadly Southern tornadoes, the houses in rubble, the residents struggling to recover. She and a group from the Furman's basketball team discovered first-hand the tragic scope of loss on a mission trip to Tuscaloosa last month.

''I feel like our eyes were opened a little bit,'' Robinson told The Associated Press by phone. ''All the material things can leave in a second.''

Robinson and teammates Teshia Griswold and Brigid Morrissey joined assistant coaches Garry Horton and Julia Huddleston and director of basketball operations Jermaine Brown on the visit from June 23-26. Furman's representatives joined with a group from Clemson's FreeWay Church to assist the United Way in continuing cleanup.

Horton was put in charge of team outreach and community service by coach Jackie Carson and when Huddleston learned from a friend in Clemson about plans to help Tuscaloosa, signed on quickly.

''Our whole goal was to go and give back,'' Horton said.

It's an area that desperately needs it. Officials say more than 60 tornadoes struck the state on April 27 and killed at least 240 people. Scores more were injured and saw their lives torn apart through damage to homes, cars and possessions.

Robinson's first true view of the destruction came their first night there when the random nature of tornado damage became apparent. ''It's so eerie,'' she said. ''One side of the street is completely destroyed, the other side, we're going to McDonald's to get something to eat.''

The next day, the group went to a damaged home site with the mission to clear the ground of debris so owners could start the process of rebuilding. Robinson saw parts of a family's life, crinkled photos of an 11th-grade boy from 1975 and a 12th-grade girl from 1976. ''It must have been a grandparents house,'' she said. ''This was someone's life that was totally destroyed.''

The players and coaches worked at a distribution center where storm victims received donated supplies like soap, socks and shampoo. They unloaded boxes and then helped people gather items on pre-approved lists.

Horton, in his second season on Furman's staff, was struck by the positive outlooks from those who's lives were forever changed by the tornadoes. ''It was remarkable, man, to listen to people's stories,'' he said. ''They had completely lost everything and had smiles on their faces. That was our purpose for doing this.''

Robinson found working in the warehouse more difficult than the previous day's cleanup, reluctant to tell people they couldn't have an essential because it was not on their list. ''You can't have baby items, by you can have shoes or socks,'' the 19-year-old said. ''That was hard.''

Horton did not want the trip to fade from the group's memories, so he had their write journals to reflect on what they'd done. He's also working to get a video diary of the visit on the team page of their athletic Web site.

Robinson said the trip forged bonds among those involved. Griswold was a junior college transfer from Georgia who Robinson and Morrissey did not know that well before this experience. Griswold wrote that that ''she didn't want to leave home. She didn't want to be here,''' Robinson said. ''Now she feels like we're her new family.''

Horton thinks the work put into helping Alabama will benefit the Paladins this fall. He said those who took part hope they can bring the sense of community to others who couldn't go. Robinson's felt that struggle, too, talking with teammates who didn't take part and realizing she'll never fully get them to understand what she saw on the ground. ''It's going to be hard to bring all that back to school,'' she said.

Robinson's spirit to volunteer is strong. She's from Hindsville, Ark., about two hours or so from Joplin, Mo., site of even more destructive tornadoes. She's talked with her family about aiding the recovery effort there on her summer break. And she won't soon forget the images of loss in Alabama.

''There's so much that needs to be done,'' she said. ''You wonder how much our one little group did.''