Aid, volunteers speed tornado recovery

PIERCE CITY, Mo. -- Federal and state governments rushed in to help Missouri communities left in tatters by tornadoes.

But Pierce City Mayor Mark Peters said it's generous private help -- from armies of volunteers, from companies, from schoolchildren, churches and anonymous donors -- that "makes all the difference and continues to amaze us."

Inside city hall, Pierce City municipal clerk Julie Johnson keeps careful tallies of cards and letters, many containing checks, others simply offering words of encouragement as the community recovers from the May 4 tornado.

"We just can't say enough thank-yous," Peters said, a refrain heard often during the last three weeks in places battered by nature.

Pierce City had happy dual surprises in a single day. Its tax base gone with the high winds that blew away the business district, the community didn't know how it could afford the relatively simple pleasure of a swimming pool this summer.

Former Gov. Roger Wilson heard about the swimming pool dilemma and called his pal Joe Moseley, general counsel for Columbia-based Shelter Insurance Cos. Wilson, now retired from politics, asked Moseley whether there was anything Shelter could do to help Pierce City's young people be able to cool off.

Moseley went to work, and hand-delivered a $5,000 check last Monday evening to the city council during its regular meeting. The money came from Shelter's philanthropic foundation, and Moseley said the company -- which had already paid many claims in the community -- "was just so pleased to help in this small way."

An hour later, at Pierce City High School's graduation ceremonies, Gov. Bob Holden had another surprise: the state was authorizing $5,000 in tax credits that a private company could receive for an equal donation to the pool fund.

Cardinals help

The State Department of Economic Development said Friday that donation was coming from Cardinals Care, a charitable organization affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. Department spokesman Jim Grebing said he didn't know whether the tax credits would be used, because Cardinals Care was set up to make donations anyway to causes for young people.

The cash will allow the pool to open -- with water donated at no charge by neighboring Monett. Mayor Mark Peters said the money will offset the estimated $13,000 cost of operating the pool -- "dollars that our town simply doesn't have anymore."

There are similar stories across Missouri's still-recovering tornado zone.

In Stockton, Mayor Ralph Steele admired members of the Mennonite Disaster Services, a church group with scores of members who flocked in to volunteer with the cleanup. They set to work clearing debris from the community's large cemetery, where hundreds of monuments were toppled.

"I never saw any bunch of good people work so hard and not seeking a word of thanks or praise, but we do thank them, very much," Steele said Friday.

Dependable disaster stalwarts such as the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army brought in help from Missouri and other states. Red Cross workers from as far away as Florida and New York spent hours going home to home offering assistance. Salvation Army volunteers from a Springfield mission staffed a food trailer in Pierce City virtually around the clock, offering kind words and smiles along with cold drinks and fresh sandwiches.

Christian volunteers

In Springfield, the nondenominational Cornerstone Church massed about 300 volunteers for cleanups in Pierce City, Stockton and Battlefield. The church linked up with Service International, a Christian volunteer disaster agency from St. Louis, to haul tons of trees and trash to central pickup spots.

Those groups allied with Samaritan's Purse, a relief organization based in North Carolina and headed by the Rev. Franklin Graham. Samaritan's Purse rolled a tractor-trailer into the Ozarks filled with tools, chain saws and wheelbarrows.

"In Pierce City, we moved about 300 tons of debris over last weekend -- all by hand," said Dick Evans, who coordinates operations at Cornerstone Church.

"For these volunteers, it's a matter of satisfaction. There is nothing in this world like helping other people and money can't match it and government can't match it," Evans said Friday. "To see people who might usually be behind a desk working hard, throwing pieces of tin or hauling trash, it does the heart good."