The Herald-Courier

Locals provide support to storm-damaged Kentucky before Christmas



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While many in the area spent their days last week preparing for Christmas – perhaps shopping for a last minute gift, visiting with friends, decorating or baking cookies – a group of 23 individuals between the ages of 6 to 60 traveled to Kentucky to provide emergency relief and support to the state that recently sustained heavy damages following storms and tornadoes earlier in the month. This trip included people from the Arcade area, as well as Attica and Clarence.

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Josh Aarum, Program/Media Director for Circle C Ranch in Delevan, answered our questions in an email interview and explained how the trip came to be organized, the aid and support from the local community, and the help all the volunteers were able to provide in Kentucky just before Christmas. His information follows:

When did you arrive in Kentucky and when did you leave?

“My Dad [Pastor Wayne Aarum at Arcade’s First Baptist Church] and I were working at our shop with Austin Stephenhagen on Dec. 11. We were talking about the tornadoes and the massive destruction we had seen on the news. As we were talking I remembered hearing stories of Mr. Schooley just packing up a truck and heading out to help people who had suffered from other natural disasters – so I threw it out there that we should pack up a truck and see who we could help. Well, my Dad called Rance Choate (the associate pastor at Arcade First Baptist) who just so happens to own a construction company. When Rance said that he was in, I knew this trip wasn’t just a good idea anymore … I knew it was happening. So we mentioned that we wanted to take a trip that Sunday at church, thinking that people would be excited to hear about it- never thinking we would recruit 20 plus people. But, somehow, that is exactly what it ended up turning into. We posted on social media that we were accepting donations that Wednesday the 15th, and between that day and the 19th, we collected over $8,000 dollars in donations and were offered two 15-passenger vans to take on the trip from local churches (Central Baptist in Yorkshire and Faith Fellowship in Clarence). We also received so many donations of food, supplies, and clothing that we had to take a 30-foot horse trailer to even fit all of it! All within four days the community came together in a way that I have never seen.

We left for Kentucky on the 19th after our church service and our group returned at different times depending on the project each part of our team were working on – but we were all home by Christmas Eve.”

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Who organized this effort?

Why did this group feel it was important to help with this effort in particular?

“My Dad, Wayne Aarum, primarily organized this effort. I found a list of churches and organizations that were helping from a podcaster that I follow named Allie B. Stuckey. I gave the list to my Dad and he called them all until we found one that we could partner with. We could not have done what we did without the partnership and guidance from Covenant Community Church in Madisonville, Kentucky. They were right outside of the destruction area and were unbelievably hospitable- putting out air mattresses and giving us breakfast, bagged lunch and a hot dinner almost every day we were there. While we worked in Madisonville, Rance Choate through a separate connection went to a family’s property who lost the entire roof of their house. He and his team used their time to put a brand new roof on the house as well as help out cleaning up the entire property.

We all have a common purpose for going. We understand that we aren’t better than the people in Kentucky – in fact, I can guarantee when disaster strikes Western New York many of the people we worked with would travel to come and help us. We went because we all have the same thing in common- we are Christians and we understand that we are called to serve one another. Of Course it is all of our civic duty to help other Americans, and while we love our country and fellow countrymen for this reason, it is even more of a responsibility for us as believers. We have experienced the loving grace of Jesus Christ, we understand what we have been rescued from, and we desire to show others the same love that we have experienced. It isn’t that we got our ‘tornado helping patch’ to stick on our Bible vest- we got the opportunity to meet people where they were at and show them the love of Christ that has changed our lives first hand. There is no reward greater than that.”

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What type of items were collected, from who/where, and why were these items so important?

“We put the word out for “supplies.” We kept it vague because we honestly didn’t even know what we needed. But somehow YOU knew- YOU the community knew what we would need. You came through with a mountain of bottled water, what felt like a literal ton of canned foods, baby supplies, blankets, clothes, and a pile of wrapped presents that Santa himself would have been proud of. The donations poured in from all over Western New York and were dropped off at our drop off locations at Marco’s Pizza and Subs, and Creekside Fabrics. Springville Public Schools put together an entire van load of supplies and the Solomon’s Treasure Thrift Store donated another van load. The stories of generosity are exactly what a Hallmark Christmas movie writer would dream up.

The problem we ran into after loading all of these donations up into our 30-foot horse trailer and two 15-passenger vans is that the communities that were hit were often very small, and America is the most generous country in the world. When we arrived in Kentucky donation spots were overflowing with the generosity from all corners of our country- and it is not like these communities have ever had to deal with disaster relief in this way. These are business owners, pastors, and teachers just trying to figure out how to get supplies to the people that needed them. So when we pulled up with another mountain of donations, many of the donation locations were not too excited. But we found a school, the Dawson Springs Independent School, that had transformed into a massive relief operation. They took all of our donations and had a system that was organized and was fueling the community with exactly what they needed but most importantly with Hope. The problem wasn’t that the community didn’t need donations- it was that they had never had to process such a massive amount of donations so quickly. While many days our team was out in the rubble helping homeowners recover their possessions, we dedicated an entire day with a majority of our team helping the school get organized. The school is the only normal thing that the kids in the affected area will have for a long time, and we understood the priority of getting this facility back to doing what it was built for. We were honored to be a part of helping the process at the Dawson Springs School and are so grateful that they stepped up to help their community.”

Where in Kentucky did the group go to volunteer aid? Why this area in particular?

“When we were looking into areas to help, we were first looking at a local connection that could point us in the right direction. We all know that the media can shine a light on one hard hit town and neglect others- so we wanted to go to the places that maybe didn’t have the spotlight on them. We found this in the town of Dawson Springs. We partnered with Covenant Community Church in Madisonville, which was just outside of the destruction zone. They were 30 minutes away from one of the hardest hit towns in Kentucky, and were a perfect launching point for us to help that community. The church would provide us breakfast and we would be out the door by 7a.m. every day and would work until dark. We would have worked longer but there was a curfew put out to stop the looting that was unfortunately taking place. We would come back exhausted to a warm dinner the church would provide- obviously southern hospitality is a real thing.”

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Can you describe some of the ways in which the group helped the area in Kentucky where you were?

We arrived at the Dawson Springs relief center that was a tent set up in a dirt parking lot. From there we got our first assignment- to help a family take their belongings from their dilapidated house. From this point on we would see homeowners working on their properties and would offer help in any way we could. The presents that weren’t dropped off at a donation center we were able to put in the hands of people who a week earlier had lost everything.

We also had the incredible opportunity to partner with Walmart on this trip. Walmart took over the Dawson Springs school’s gymnasium and transformed it into a Christmas wonderland. Our team had the chance to be ‘designated shoppers’ for families that were affected. We got to give each child five brand new toys, as well as any coats or clothing they needed … plus a brand new bike! Being ‘Santa’s helpers’ was one of the things that impacted us all the most- getting to walk and talk with these families and hearing their stories was absolutely incredible.

What was it like for the group to travel to Kentucky to offer help? How did the group feel afterwards being able to help so many before Christmas?

We went down with the intention of helping change people’s lives- but as so often happens in circumstances like this, our lives were forever changed. We heard the most unbelievable and terrifying stories of people’s houses getting lifted from around them, seeing cars tossed on top of each other and the unmistakable growel of 190 MPH winds.

The reality that Christmas for these families is something that no one in their wildest nightmares could imagine left us all with a pit in our stomach. Seeing toys that were caught up in trees that were meant to be under a family’s tree in just a few days was so sad. But knowing that we were making a difference and we were offering hope was so important to us. We could see the difference that we were making, of course it would have been better for the tornado never to come, but it came nonetheless and we had a part in making the Christmas traditions happen for many families regardless of the circumstances.

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Who helped this effort?

  • Circle C Ranch
  • Arcade First Baptist Church
  • Central Baptist Church
  • Faith Fellowship Church
  • Covenant Community Church
  • Creekside Fabrics, Quilts & Yarns
  • Marco’s Pizza and Subs
  • H.O.I.C.E.S.
  • Springville Public Schools
  • Springville Seconds Club
  • Solomon’s Treasure Thrift Store
  • Choate Builders LLC
  • Dawson Springs Independent School
  • JA Industrial Services

To see more photos and video from the emergency relief trip to Kentucky, visit the Circle C Ranch Facebook page

 

 

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