Joplin Tornado Relief

[madmacs]

Joplin, Missouri was hit by an EF5 tornado on May 22, 2011. This was the single deadliest storm in the US in the last 60 years. Having seen pictures of the devastation, i would urge you to consider making a donation.

Joplin is one of our service areas, and the company is matching donations made through the red cross.

american.redcross.org/americanwater-emp

If anyone is local to St Louis, we are collecting school supplies to send down on June 10th (they plan on starting summer school June 16th to put some routine back into the childrens lives) I can provide a list if anyone is interested.

[macwilkin]

There a number of relief organizations on the ground in Joplin; for those on facebook, you'll find several Joplin Tornado sites, including Joplin Tornado Info, which reguarly updates volunteer activities and opportunities to donate. I would also suggest Convoy of Hope, a local SW Missouri-based organization, since 90% of monetary donations go directly to relief efforts. Our college partnered with CoH last week and raised over $70,000 and sent 8 tractor-trailers filled with bottled water, food, clothing, toiletries, etc. to Joplin.

I went to help in Joplin this past friday with a group from Webster County that was cooking meals at College Heights Christian Church near MSSU. We took a number of meals out into the area hit hardest, and I didn't recognize much of the part of town where my aunt lives -- and we've been going to Joplin since I was a wee bairn. While it is sad to see how the tornado destroyed so much, the spirit of Joplin and its residents is still very much alive and kicking.

Please send me the list of school supplies, as one of the local Scottish groups I belong to is collecting them as well.

T.

[madmacs]

[Cowher]

Wow those pictures are awful. It looks like Munson Massachusetts today. My pipe band is based out of Munson and I have been texted some pictures and it's really bad. It's incredible how tornados can destroy so completely.