Locals assist Joplin tornado recovery

A tornado devastated the town of Joplin, Mo. last Sunday. It was the deadliest tornado in the country in over 60 years, killing at least 125 people and injuring over 1,000. Several area residents are gathering supplies to send to Joplin, and some are even making the 7 ½ hour drive to the town that?s on the Oklahoma border.

Washington resident Bob Shepherd left early Friday morning for Joplin, where he will spend three days. He took a chainsaw with him to cut up fallen trees.

?The devastation I saw really hit me,? he said. ?There are trees everywhere. We?ll try to cut them into manageable pieces.?

Shepherd will be staying in a pop-up camper in a campground 20 miles from Joplin. He said he was inspired to help because of all the help Washington residents received in the aftermath of the tornado in 1998.

Other people from the area will soon make a trip to southwest Missouri. Whitney Paul and Rebecca Wickenkamp are registered nurses who work in Washington and who will travel to Joplin on Friday, June 3. They will return two days later. Paul said the two of them have instructed the authorities in Joplin that they are willing to provide nursing care. They are waiting to hear back as to whether their nursing services are needed.

The St. John?s Regional Medical Center in Joplin was damaged in the tornado. Wickenkamp said make-shift medical facilities have been set up in several buildings throughout the town. Paul said she would serve wherever they need her.

Paul said she did not have family in the area, and that she is helping because of a sense of duty.

?I feel that I would want help if the same thing happened in Washington,? said Paul. ?I feel an urge to go down there in their time of need.?

Even if Paul and Wickenkamp find out their nursing services are not needed, they will still travel to Joplin to deliver donated items they?ve collected. They have gathered supplies for hygienic kits for men, women and children.

?We are having mostly our friends and family bring the items to our house,? said Paul.

Paul said that other people who wish to donate can drop off hygienic items at her place of employment, Hospice of Washington County, or at Wickenkamp?s, which is the United Presbyterian Home.

Melissa McTee runs a beauty salon in Washington and has begun to collect items for Joplin. McTee said she learned of the tornado Monday morning and was devastated.

?I couldn?t believe a natural disaster could wipe out an entire town,? she said. ?What got me the most was seeing the cars stacked on top of each other. It looked almost fake, like there should be a green screen behind it.?

On Tuesday night, McTee was on the phone with her cousin Angie Morrow of Cedar Rapids. Morrow suggested that the two of them donate their clothes to the relief efforts.

?I said, ?Why just ours?? Let?s donate everybody else?s,?? said McTee.

Since that phone call, McTee and Morrow have been hard at work collecting clothing. McTee also called her company ?Art of Beauty,? which makes body wash, shampoo, sanitizers and other products of that sort. She wanted to know if it would donate anything.

?It never hurts to ask,? said McTee.

The response she received was overwhelming. Her company agreed to donate 500 bottles of shower gel and 500 bottles of lotion. McTee?s donation-drive was even posted on the company?s Web site.    

?What did I get myself into?? said McTee. ?I was just thinking of making a little ad to see if people wanted to give up some of their stuff. The next thing I know, I?ve talked to the Red Cross and churches in Joplin.?

A church in Joplin has agreed to accept the clothing and other items McTee and Morrow collect. McTee said they will gather items for three weeks. At the end of each week, the items collected at that point will be shipped to Joplin.

McTee said the residents of Washington know very well the damage a tornado can cause.    

?If any community knows what that?s like, it?s Washington,? she said.

Morrow said she used to travel though Joplin for business. She was shocked upon seeing the images of the tornado?s destruction.

?Can you imagine not having a home?? she said. ?I can?t even imagine it. We forget how fortunate we are.?         

Morrow said she would probably not visit Joplin this summer, although she expressed interest in going there in the fall to rebuild homes.

In addition to clothing, McTee and Morrow are collecting other necessary goods such as bottled water, diapers, work gloves, toiletries and batteries, just to name a few. McTee herself will donate two laundry baskets full of clothes, gallons of shampoo and conditioner, and 20 pairs of shoes. Those wishing to donate may drop off items on McTee?s back patio at 1302 E. Third St. in Washington.