Thomasville defensive back Charlie Thomas carries some branches in a wheelbarrow Wednesday.

THOMASVILLE — Thomas County was ravaged by severe storms over Saturday and Sunday, and a local team is stepping up to do their part in helping out the community.

Thomasville’s football team played a role in assisting some local residents on Wednesday, going out to help clean up some of the mess that was left in the wake of the storms.

Bulldogs offensive coordinator Chris Merritt contacted Thomasville Emergency Services asking how they could help early in the week. It was one of many calls of that kind that it has received so far, according to director Chris Jones. Emergency Services is trying to get groups coordinated for this coming weekend to assist in cleaning up debris that was left over.

Ultimately, Merritt and teacher Janet Cable decided to act a little bit earlier than that, and ended up knocking on some doors. A team meeting on Tuesday solidified what what the team planned on doing.

“We’re going to try and get some crews together,” Thomasville head coach Zach Grage said. “Our kids are involved in spring sports, so that kind of depletes our numbers, but we’re going to try to go out into the community and identify five different families that have requested help cleaning up their yard.”

While it wasn’t an ideal way they wanted to contribute to the public, like contributing to the YMCA, it’s a way to give back in a time when it’s needed.

“Unfortunately the opportunity presented itself, but fortunately we we able to capitalize on it and get the kids out doing something,” Grage said. “It’s good to react quickly. I guess it really makes you count your blessings, and you realize what you have and what you lose whenever something does go awry. It’s just trying to reach out and say, ‘We can take a couple of hours out of our day.’ Whether they’re involved in our program or not, we can just get out in our community.”