Since the devastating series of tornadoes ripped across Alabama on April 27, the state has been overwhelmed with help from people across the country.

Phil Campbell has been no exception.

Countless donations and volunteers have poured into the town, people just offering to help any way they could.

That’s what the youth group from Vaughn Forest Church in Montgomery wanted to do this week – just help in any way possible.

“Every year we take a group to New Orleans to do backyard Bible clubs and host block parties and really, just to minister to all those people,” said Dave Shepherd, who serves as the middle school minister at Vaughn Forest.

“This year, there were just so many people hurting here in our own state that we wanted to do what we could to offer hope and encouragement,” Shepherd said.

The group traveled to Florence Sunday and spent the week working at Phil Campbell Elementary School before leaving Friday.

During that time, the students, whose ages range from eighth grade to sophomores in college, held a block party and played with local children in the evening and spent the days working to make repairs around the school.

PCES Principal Jackie Ergle said the students did everything from mowing the grass and pulling shrubs to replacing railing and cleaning all the school’s classrooms in preparation for the upcoming school year.

“This is what has helped us all so much during the rebuilding process,” Ergle said. “The outpouring of love and support that everyone has shown has been overwhelming. When I look out at these students, I see the future leaders of our state and nation. They are leaders in training and I appreciate them so much for all they have done for us. This really is many hands working together, which is our school theme.”

Shepherd said the church considers itself to be missions minded and even has a disaster relief team that works in situations such as the tornado’s aftermath.

“We are not afraid to go where God calls us to go,” he said.

Though the group arrived in Phil Campbell some two-and-a-half months after the deadly storm, Shepherd said he had never seen the kind of devastation he saw in Franklin County.

“Well, you look around certain spots and see things but then someone tells you ‘there used to be a neighborhood over there,” he said. “That’s when you realize how bad it is. We have done a lot of crying when we’ve heard the stories about what people went through, but we have not heard one person complain about it. Everyone is just picking up and going after it.”