The recovery from such a disaster as last year's tornado could not have been done without the generous gifts of time and talent from so many people. A large dent of what would have taken innumerable hours of labor to clean up was made in a short week. Standing out in the crowd were some volunteer superstars who we would like to extend an extra special thank-you for going above and beyond:

Jon English

Megan Leafblad took vacation time from her job to come and help. She was instrumental in organizing our communication hub in the office, doing everything from simple follow-up to representing Urban Homeworks in some of the initial community meetings.

John Burkholder didn’t let his age hinder him from the need. This 80-year-old man volunteered multiple days the week following the tornado, running a chainsaw the entire time. We had to force him to take a break for lunch.

Robert & Amy Mingo were definitely a dynamic duo. Robert could be seen riding all over the northside, handing out water, rallying people and rallying food donations from Cub Foods and other places. Amy not only documented the volunteer efforts through photos (many of the photos you see in our publications are hers), but she also took care of those of us in the home base by reminding us that we needed to eat and making sure that we were nourished and doing ok. 

Thank you to all who volunteered the week and summer following the tornado. We cannot adequately express our gratitude for your selflessness.