TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) - When Michael Thomas and Andrew Sbrissa were seniors at Spain Park High School the April 27th tornadoes hit Tuscaloosa, where both students planned to attend college.  Thomas and Sbrissa say they already had friends and family attending the University of Alabama, and they wanted to do something for the area.  At the suggestions of family and friends, the students started an LLC company to raise money by selling t-shirts they had designed.  The company and shirts were both called, "Pray for Alabama"; the 'a' in the word 'pray' was designed to look like the university's script 'a'.

The shirts were sold at Spain Park High School and online.  When the students became freshman at the university, they also sold the shirts throughout their first semester until they had run out of stock.  Thomas says they ran the company from the dorm room, taking orders and shipping the t-shirts through tiny campus mailboxes.  The guys now see their shirts all over campus.

After raising nearly $5,000, Sbrissa and Thomas decided to donate the money to the West Alabama Chapter of the American Red Cross.  Both students say the process has been overwhelming and wonderful.  Sbrissa and Thomas got a lot of real business world experience while doing something good for their new city. 

Thomas says they plan to restart Pray for Alabama LLC around the storm's one year anniversary.  They hope to have new merchandise available like a new shirt, hats, and bumper stickers.  Thomas says they have not decided where proceeds from the new sales in April will go, but they want to continue with the relief effort in whatever way they can.