( CNN ) -- This is a tale of two cities tied together by two tornadoes of the most wicked order , the apocalyptic EF-5 -- and by acts of charity that followed . It demonstrates how one good turn -- or town -- deserves another . First , the town of Tuscaloosa , Alabama , got hit by a twister on April 27 , killing 41 . So , like many others across the country , the residents in and around Joplin , Missouri , dispatched volunteers and relief goods to the Alabama community . Melodie Schultz of Joplin even participated in a fund-raiser . `` I got involved just by seeing that they needed the help in Tuscaloosa , and a friend of mine started just a group of us : 'Joplin Helping Tuscaloosa , Alabama , ' `` Schultz told CNN . Pastor Matt Harenza of Carterville Christian Church in Carthage , Missouri , just 16 miles from Joplin , donated manpower to the Tuscaloosa wreckage . `` When the tornado happened in Tuscaloosa , a sister church there in Nashville ( Tennessee ) called and asked if we could bring our team to Tuscaloosa and help out , '' said Harenza . `` So we got our team and got our tools and stuff and went down there to help out . '' Then , a month later , fortunes between the Tuscaloosa and Joplin were reversed . The single deadliest U.S. twister since modern record-keeping began in 1950 ripped through Joplin , killing 142 persons . It , too , was an EF-5 . So the people of Tuscaloosa and elsewhere in Alabama returned Joplin 's favor . A truckload of water , diapers , baby food and other relief materials arrived Saturday for the people of Joplin , and the goods were being stored in a warehouse at Harenza 's church because Joplin is too obliterated to house the supplies . The donations were delivered courtesy of the relief group Toomer 's for Tuscaloosa and Ashley Furniture HomeStore of Birmingham , Alabama , said Chris Fields , a spokesman for Toomer 's . `` Sunday afternoon , we saw on the Weather Channel that there was a storm that was about to hit Joplin , and we wondered why we recognized that name so well , '' Fields said . `` We realized why we recognized it , '' he said . Joplin residents `` sent down a giant truck of aid for the residents of Tuscaloosa , '' he said . So , the residents of Tuscaloosa and other parts of Alabama donated enough goods to fill two 53-foot trucks and a 26-foot truck , Fields said . The 26-foot truck , with a Toomer 's banner saying `` Stuff-The-Truck . Joplin , Mo bound , '' was eventually diverted to another tornado-wracked community in Arkansas , but the two bigger trucks continued on their mission to provide relief to Joplin , Fields said . Fields was amazed at the outpouring of support for Joplin , with donations arriving by the pickup load , leaving him in tears , he said . `` These people have been through it and they know exactly what to bring , '' from flashlights to batteries to baby bottles , Fields said of Tuscaloosa residents ' donations . `` It is part of our healing process to help someone who has been through the exact same thing that we had been through . That 's why so many people stepped up to the plate , '' Field said . `` This movement is so large , so many people stepping up as individuals taking care of their neighbors , it 's a beautiful , beautiful thing to happen in this country , '' Fields added . For Schultz 's part , she was volunteering for a Tuscaloosa fund-raiser in Joplin on the very day that the tornado ripped through her Missouri town , she said . In dramatic fashion , she raised money by doing mini-photo shoots and managed to do 20 of them before disaster struck Sunday , she said . `` We managed to make it to safety probably five or 10 minutes before the tornado hit , '' Schultz said . Tuscaloosa 's mutual humanitarianism moved her , she said . `` They just want to do whatever they can to help us , which is amazing to me . They 've gone through the exact same thing , not even a month ago , and are so willing to send truckloads of food and anything that we need down here , and they 're happy to do it , '' Schultz said . `` They 've got our backs , and they 're completely supportive . '' Harenza , the pastor , said seeing the truckload of donations from Tuscaloosa was `` an emotional thing . '' Similar trucks from around the country arrived in Tuscaloosa during his volunteer efforts there last month , he said . `` You just go , 'Wow , people care about people , ' and this tragedy almost pulls us together as a nation , '' Harenza said . Said Fields : `` It 's supernatural what has happened here as far as I 'm concerned . '' CNN 's Chris Turner and Emily Robards contributed to this report .
A tornado hits Tuscaloosa , Missouri , in May . The residents in and around Joplin , Missouri , provide aid . Then the nation 's deadliest twister devastates Joplin in April . In a reversal of fortunes , Tuscaloosa sends aid to Missouri .