Will Fischer, community services coordinator at the AFL-CIO, sends us this update from Oklahoma:

May 31, 2013, 7:30 p.m.: The alarm sounded. It was a house fire. As the firefighters gathered and donned their gear, the sky turned an eerie yellow-gray, signaling a severe storm. The rain came down in sheets. This was Moore, Okla.; a town reeling from some of the most devastating tornadoes on record—and another lurked overhead.

The Texas AFL-CIO and Texas AFT partnered this weekend with a Univision station in Austin to promote reading and academic success at the Austin edition of the COPA Univision amateur soccer tournament. The event included adult and youth men's and women's teams. During the tournament, more than 2,000 people visited the AFL-CIO/AFT exhibit and volunteers gave out more than 1,500 books to children in attendance.

While recovery operations continue in Moore, Okla., after one of the worst and deadliest tornadoes on record, relief efforts are still underway. The Oklahoma State AFL-CIO and central labor council community service liaisons are working through the United Way.  

When Jim Pulley, a UAW member in Spring Hill, Tenn., saw the devastation caused by the tornadoes that hit Moore, Okla., he jumped into action and set up collection boxes at all of the General Motors Co. (GM) plant entrances in his hometown. His union, Local 1853, expanded on his initiative by involving its Community Services Committee. GM and community groups also got involved. Ten days later, the combined efforts of the union and the community resulted in three semi-trailer truckloads of supplies headed to help the tornado survivors.

The Union Sportsmen's Alliance (USA) Adopt-a-Park initiative is making sure hikers in Montgomery Bell State Park near Nashville, Tenn., have a safe new bridge to cross a 30-foot-wide creek. Volunteers from the Nashville Building and Construction Trades Council (BCTC) are spending weekends in May building a sturdy, permanent bridge to replace a small, temporary structure further down the creek after a 2010 flood washed away the original bridge.

When the tornado hit Moore, Okla., on Monday, International Union of Police Associations (IUPA) members Andrew Terry, Jay Keehn, Michael Myers and David Carpenter were quick to respond to the tragedy in their hometown. All of the members of IUPA Local 3 offered their services, as did members of numerous other locals in the area. The response was so overwhelming that officials on the ground had to put many volunteers on standby.

She said she’d get a Mohawk. She got a Mohawk.

“I’m sporting a new ‘do,’” says Alice Phillips, business manager for Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 483 of Tacoma, Wash. “It feels…light. It’s different.”

The shaved head and spiked hair came about because Phillips wanted her union local to double last year’s donation of union-made peanut butter as part of the Letter Carriers’ (NALC's) National Food Drive. The 21st annual drive to combat hunger is the nation’s largest single-day food drive and is held annually on the second Saturday in May in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In 2012, letter carriers collected 70 million pounds of food donations along their postal routes.

Oklahoma City-area union members who were impacted by tornadoes and who participate in Union Plus programs may be eligible for financial assistance. 

Union Plus Disaster Relief Grants of $500 are available to help participants in the Union Plus Credit Card, Insurance or Mortgage programs who are facing financial hardship due to this devastating natural disaster. The money does not have to be repaid.

UPDATE: The death toll from the Moore tornado has been revised downward and stands at 24 as of noon today. But officials say they expect it to increase as rescue workers search the wreckage. 

While rescue operations continue in Moore, Okla., after one of the worst and deadliest tornadoes on record that has claimed more than 50 lives, with the toll expected to climb, relief efforts are being organized. The Oklahoma State AFL-CIO and central labor council community service liaisons are working through the United Way. 

Dorothy was a longtime activist with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the Oklahoma State AFL-CIO. In the summer of 2012, she lost her only son and found that her home, which she bought for her retirement, was in serious need of repair. That's when her church, Journey Church, in Norman, Okla., and the state federation stepped in and did what they could to change her life.

Check out this video to see what they did in only eight hours.