Logan County residents provided practical assistance and heartfelt greetings to individuals recovering from the devastating tornados in Kentucky through a variety of donations that were delivered Saturday to distribution locations in Mayfield, Ky., about 460 miles away.
One of the donation boxes featured a picture colored by a young child that brought tears to the eyes of a recipient, said Scott Stewart, who helped to organize the collection drive and delivery alongside his sons, Ryan and Zach, and his family and friends.
“A child from our area had colored this picture that really spoke to this tornado survivor — it was a special moment,” he said Monday. “It let them know that we were thinking of them.
“After everything that they’ve been through, the residents of Mayfield were so happy to see us, and were touched that so people from another small town rallied together to help them.”
Prior to Saturday’s journey to Western Kentucky with the donated canned goods, personal hygiene items, medical supplies and other emergency items, Stewart and fellow volunteers staged a collection drop-off at the Logan County Fairgrounds that far exceeded their expectations.
“I think a lot of the folks who stepped up realized that this could happen to any of us…we have to help our neighbors in Kentucky.”
While the group expected to take one truck and trailer with the relief supplies, they received enough items that six to seven trucks hauling trailers were required, along with four other vehicles loaded with donations. Sixteen local volunteers made the drive Saturday to provide assistance.
In the two days after Stewart put out information about the collection effort last week, the Quincy area resident said he received 240 phone calls or text messages from individuals wanting to help or trying to find out more information.
Toward the end of the fairgrounds collection time, Stewart also related that a box truck showed up from Rise FM, stocked full of donations. Then when he arrived back at his residence that evening, more donations had arrived there as well.
“This is what happens when a community pulls together — we can make a big impact,” he said. “With all of the turmoil in the world recently, it really restores your faith in humanity, that we can overcome our differences to work together on a project like this.
“The donations came from all over, from the hospital giving cases of diapers to businesses giving donations and just ordinary people wanting to help out however they could.
“There also was a gentleman who stopped by, who had difficulty walking, and he wanted to donate canned goods. I was later informed that he had terminal cancer.”
In addition to the donation of goods, Stewart said local individuals provided $5,600 in $10 and $20 gift cards to assist with practical needs of the survivors to purchase at Wal-Mart and etc.
When approaching Mayfield and other areas impacted by the deadly tornadoes that hit Stewart said the group could see the some of the path the tornado took, even crossing the interstate. Arriving in Mayfield, he said it was difficult to take in all of devastation in person, stating that it looked like a war-zone.
Monday, the Louisville Courier reported updated numbers regarding the storms, stating that more than 1,000 properties were destroyed and at least 76 people were killed in Kentucky during the tornadoes that hit late Dec. 10 and early morning hours of Dec. 11.
The Mayfield tornado was designated at EF4, the second-to-worst category.
Multiple tornadoes have been confirmed and are still determined — including the long-track twister that tore through Mayfield on a path from Fulton County to Muhlenberg County and another that hit the Bowling Green area.
The long-track tornado is believed to have been on the ground for more than 200 miles, part of a storm system that ran from Arkansas into Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois, the Louisville Courier stated.
Upon arriving at a distribution site in Mayfield, Stewart said the location was full of goods, but with so many survivors stopping in throughout the day, supplies quickly dwindled.
The Mayfield residents were especially touched by the stacks of dog and cat food donated by Logan County residents.
“For a lot of these people who have lost nearly all of their possessions, their dog or cat might be one of the few special things that they have left,” Stewart said.
Also at this location, the volunteers happened to connect with fellow area residents from the West Liberty First Church of God and Pastor Nate Wilcoxon who traveled to Kentucky, working with the ministry God’s Pit Crew.
After their busy day, Stewart and his group trekked back home late Saturday evening. They are making plans to possibly return back to Kentucky for further relief efforts, noting that the work of rebuilding in locations hit by the tornados will take many months, if not years.