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In the sports world, Tuscola and Pisgah make up as passionate a rivalry as there is at the high school level. But as fellow community members, the two schools have each others backs, especially in the face of disaster.

On game night, were trying to beat them and theyre trying to beat us, but the rest of the week, we go to church together, we live together, were the same communities, longtime Tuscola band director Tim Wise said, whos been at the school since 1993. When something like this happens, they would have our back just like weve got theirs.

Since tropical storm Fred devastated many parts of Haywood County Tuesday, including the outdoor athletic facilities at Pisgah, support and donations have poured in from numerous outlets. Tuscola band students wanted to pitch in too, so they organized a drop off location at their band room.

We noticed that our community needs a lot of help and I feel like, as a band member, we have to thank the community a lot because theyre the ones that support us a ton, Tuscola baritone player Jonah Ottie said. We want to help give back, so Im hoping a lot of this food, water and clothes will go to help a lot of people.

Wise said his band members contacted him Wednesday asking if it would be okay to use the band room to accept donations to take over to Pisgah. The students got the word out on social media and Wise sent an email to band parents and posted on Facebook to help spread the word.

The kids have been here all day and its just been a steady stream of donations, food, water, clothing, cleaning supplies, whatever people need, Wise said.

In a matter of hours, the Tuscola band room was overtaken by piles of donations from the community. Those donations then go to Pisgahs band room, which is even more packed than Tuscolas, and from there are taken out to distribution sites like churches in the most heavily affected parts of the county.

Weve just sort of been like the hub of gathering stuff and now were just trying to find the people who can get it out, Pisgah band director Matt Sanders said.

Sanders said along with the Band of Bears, Pisgahs student council and JROTC helped organize the donations. Sanders said that at first, his plan was just to donate band hoodies and shirts leftover from last school year and extra food leftover from band camp. But with the food and clothes donations drive organized by the student council, the operation quickly grew bigger and bigger.

We have things for infants and toddlers all the way up to adult 3XL, Sanders said. Anybody whos been devastated by tropical storm Fred can really come here and get anything that they need and sorta kinda have a fresh start.

Seeing the hard work multiple parts of the community came together to put in to take care of each other made Sanders proud to be part of it.

Its great to belong to a program that has the admiration and love of its community, he said.

At Tuscola, the band members were surprised at how quickly their room filled up. Drum major Doris Thomas said she expected a big turnout, but was impressed at just how big the turnout actually was.

It was really tragic when it happened, so its really cool seeing everyone come together and really help the community, Thomas said.

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Rival bands pitch in for flood relief | Flood Coverage | themountaineer.com - The Mountaineer