JOPLIN, Mo. —
As the teens moved farther along the bleachers they were painting, splotches of bright red paint kept appearing where it didn’t exactly belong. On the ground. On their arms and legs. On their clothing.
But they didn’t seem to mind. It was the work — from one tornado-ravaged community to another — that mattered, said Chris Cline, of Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“I know what it feels like to walk into your backyard and see a bunch of people you don’t even know helping you for no pay,” the 16-year-old said Wednesday as he worked at Sunny Jim Park on East 20th Street. “It’s a feeling you can’t explain. I wanted to help everyone who was affected.”
Cline and eight others from his church, First Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, are in Joplin this week to assist the city’s recovery efforts. They’re no strangers to the experience, having seen a massive EF-4 tornado ravage the heart of their city on April 27, 2011. Dozens of people were killed in the storm, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Todd Agee, one of the organizers of the trip, said it was “a calling” to leave Tuscaloosa behind for a few days and pay it forward to Joplin, which was struck by an ever bigger storm less than a month after the Alabama disaster.
“We were so overwhelmed by the help we were able to get after the tornado that we just wanted to give back,” he said.
SUMMER VOLUNTEERS
The members of the group, who arrived over the weekend, plan to stay until Saturday, working with AmeriCorps and Rebuild Joplin. And they are not the only ones expected in town. Joplin could soon see an uptick in volunteers.
The number of people volunteering with Joplin’s recovery from the May 22, 2011, tornado is expected to rise during the summer months, said Cameron Coe, an emergency response team member and volunteer coordinator with AmeriCorps St. Louis, the organization assisting with long-term recovery efforts.
Coe said there was a “huge spike” in numbers in March and April, with AmeriCorps processing up to 500 volunteers per day. That number has since slowed to about 50 volunteers daily but is expected to pick up again, particularly as Coe expects multiple groups this summer of 150 to 300 people.
Heading into the first week of June, Coe said he anticipates processing an average of 200 volunteers per day, with a majority of them coming through church mission trips. Groups began calling during the winter to plan for their trips to Joplin, he said.
Coe said recovery efforts such as those under way in Joplin typically experience an ebb and flow in terms of volunteer forces. But his office in Joplin has consistently processed volunteers over the past year, he said.
“It’s just staggering to realize how focused the rest of the nation is” on Joplin’s recovery, he said.
SHARED EXPERIENCES
For members of the Tuscaloosa group, volunteering in Joplin has a more personal feel because of their shared experience with Mother Nature’s fury. Cline said last April’s tornado blew out the windows of his house and damaged the roof.
As later seen in Joplin, help started pouring into the community almost immediately.
“The volunteer work (in Tuscaloosa) was the most we’ve ever had for any event in our city,” said Cline, who eventually assisted with cleanup and recovery in his neighborhood.
Agee said his house also was damaged — fallen trees and fences, a hole in the roof — by a separate tornado that blew through the area just days before the April 27 storm. He later helped with debris removal in his town, and his church began serving as host for groups that were traveling to Tuscaloosa to volunteer.
Since arriving earlier this week in Joplin, Agee has worked with his church group on tasks around the city.
“Just the people we’ve met and the people we’ve worked with have been super nice,” he said. “We’re trying to give back to everyone we can to help them get back on their feet.”
Julie Potts, another 16-year-old from Tuscaloosa, said her house was left untouched by the tornado last year.
But she wasn’t unaffected, spending time afterward sorting clothing and cleaning debris in the tornado zone.
“It was a really cool experience,” she said of her efforts in her hometown. “We all kind of came together, and we had a common goal. I felt really connected to people.”
When she heard later that her church was organizing a mission trip to Joplin, she knew she wanted to be part of it, she said.
“I couldn’t really think of a better way to spend my time,” she said Wednesday as she helped repaint the bleachers at the Little League ballpark. “It’s good to know we’re helping Joplin get back to maybe where it was before.”
Volunteers
AS OF THIS MONTH, more than 75,700 registered volunteers have worked more than 520,100 hours in Joplin through AmeriCorps since the May 2011 tornado, said Cameron Coe, volunteer coordinator.
May 2011 Joplin tornado
Related Photos
-
Sixteen-year-old Adam Ray brushes it on thick Wednesday on the bleacher supports at Sunny Jim Park on East 20th Street in Joplin. Ray is among a group of volunteers from the First Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The teens, whose hometown was hit by a tornado about a month ahead of the Joplin storm last year, said they could relate to the Joplin experience and just felt called to help. GLOBE | T. ROB BROWN GLOBE | T. ROB BROWN
-
Lauren Curtner-Smith puts a foot forward for the necessary vantage for painting at Sunny Jim Park, a Little League field hit by the 2011 tornado in Joplin. AmeriCorps, which is continuing to coordinate the volunteer efforts in Joplin, says the town will seen another uptick in the number of outside helpers this summer. GLOBE | T. ROB BROWN GLOBE | T. ROB BROWN
Discussion
Volunteers from Tuscaloosa paying it forward in Joplin
Summer helpers expected to average 200 per day
- May 2011 Joplin tornado
-
-
Storms cause damage throughout the Four States
Four-State Area residents hunkered down twice Monday to ride out tornadoes and powerful spring storms, then went to work cleaning up. The worst damage from Monday night’s storm was being reported in Ottawa County, Okla., near Wyandotte. That followed a report of an EF-1 tornado early Monday morning near Carthage.
-
SLIDESHOW: One year later, One day of unity, updated
Photos from a day of events commemorating the May 22, 2011 tornado anniversary
-
Two plead guilty to post-tornado wire theft
Two defendants pleaded guilty Monday to stealing copper wire from utility poles in the wake of the May 22, 2011, tornado that struck Joplin. Timothy M. Silveria, 45, of Joplin, and Nycoa K. Kracht, 32, of Laurel, Ind., entered open pleas of guilty in Jasper County Circuit Court to felony counts of theft from a public utility.
-
FACES OF RECOVERY: 176,869 volunteers help put Joplin together again
They initially came in droves, pouring into Joplin by the thousands during the months following the May 2011 tornado to clear debris, clean up damaged homes and businesses and distribute donations of food, water, clothing and other necessities.
-
Therapy dogs
Any question that Louie was bred to put people as ease is put to rest when the golden retriever trots over to where a visitor sits and puts his head on their knee, the dog’s eyes filled with a gentle affection.
-
Nova Kluseman and Jeanne Morrow
Nova Kluseman has staked her claim on Wednesdays at the Mercy medical office clinics where she volunteers. The staff at Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri will know it’s Thursday when they see Jeanne Morrow walk through the door.
-
Greentree Community Church
Every two months, Joplin plays host to some now-familiar faces. They’re members of Greentree Community Church in St. Louis, and they have “adopted” the city as one of their mission projects since the tornado.
-
Virginia Laas
Virginia Laas isn’t an accountant or bookkeeper by trade. But when the tornado caused significant damage to Joplin Schools, and subsequently spurred a massive landslide of donations to the district, Laas voluntarily stepped into those roles to fill a need that administrators were too busy to handle.
-
Rebecca Williams
Two years after the tornado, Rebecca Williams remains committed to helping people around the world keep up with the progress that has been made in Joplin.
-
Community Outreach Team
While it didn’t yet have a formal name, the seeds of Freeman Health System’s Community Outreach Team were planted in the hours following the tornado.
- More May 2011 Joplin tornado Headlines
-
