National Football League

Chiefs gathering aid for tornado victims

Published May. 25, 2011 1:14 a.m. ET

foxsports

Hundreds of cars lined up all day Tuesday in the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot as the Kansas City Chiefs filled two semitrailer trucks with bottled water for tornado victims in Kansas and Missouri.

Chiefs spokesman Brad Gee said the team also collected ''a significant amount of financial donations'' for the victims in Reading, Kan., and Joplin, Mo.

The Chiefs are donating $35,000 to the relief effort.

While Chiefs cheerleaders danced and went through their routines, the team collected bottled water from both individuals and Kansas City-area businesses in the day-long effort. In total, they estimated people brought about 3,000 cases to the Arrowhead Stadium parking lot in the day-long effort.

''The response was incredible,'' Gee said. ''One man brought in four pallets of water himself. A lot of people also wanted to make financial donations.''

Told by the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency that additional supplies were also needed, the Chiefs on Wednesday also planned to collect work gloves, heavy-duty construction trash bags, flashlights and batteries of all sizes.

Owner Clark Hunt and general manager Scott Pioli planned to be on hand in Lot C for part of Wednesday's collection, helping loads trucks and accept donations.

The Chiefs are also teaming with the Salvation Army to collect financial donations for Heart-to-Heart International.

More than 100 people were killed in the tornado that hit Joplin on Sunday. Earlier, one man died and dozens of homes were destroyed in the eastern Kansas community of Reading.