Members of the University of Iowa football team used their strength and teamwork for a different purpose Saturday -- to aid Salvation Army flood relief efforts.

Five members of the Hawkeye football team helped other Salvation Army volunteers load up trucks at the office and warehouse before heading to the Parkview Terrace neighborhood and Idyllwild communities to pass out food, bottles of water and cleaning kits to homeowners and volunteers working in two of the hardest hit Iowa City flood areas.

Josh Koeppel, a center on the football team and junior in school, said he volunteered in Parkersburg and helped sandbag before the flood.

"The state of Iowa is basically a disaster area," he said. "So we just try to do our part to help out."

Koeppel, an Iowa City native, said "it's pretty crazy" seeing the damage as he walked through the Parkview Terrace Neighborhood.

"It hit home pretty hard," he said.

Seeing all the pictures on the news, he knew he wanted to do his part.

"We're all young and able bodies, so why not come and help out?" he said. "What goes around comes around."

The team members headed out from the Salvation Army trucks with bottles of water to hand out and ask what other supplies people needed.

The Salvation Army offers food, beverages, bug spray, masks and cleanup kits with a brush, sponge, gloves, safety glasses and cleaners inside a plastic bucket.

"You don't realize how bad it is until you get out to some of the neighborhoods that have been hit like this," said Ross Petersen, a third-year Hawkeye tight end.

Petersen said "pretty much everyone on the team has gotten out" to help, especially with the sandbagging efforts before the flood.

Capt. Terry Smith of the Salvation Army in Iowa City said a member of the football team contacted the Salvation Army offering to get players out for the sandbagging efforts, and football players have continued to help in the aftermath. Players served food at the soup kitchen Saturday night and will serve lunch and help distribute more items today.

"They could be doing anything on a Saturday," Smith said. "We're grateful they want to come out and serve the community."

"It's just a team effort," Smith said.