Tornado Recovery Warehouse helping victims start over
KOKOMO, Ind. (WISH) – Tornado victims in search of food, clothes, cleaning supplies and more can now find it all in one place and it won’t cost them a dime. The United Way, along with the Kokomo Rescue Mission, created the “Tornado Recovery Warehouse.”
The organizations had been down this road before nearly three years ago when tornadoes hit the area, they just needed new place to operate.
Luckily, organizers said General Motors let them take over one of its empty buildings in town at 2161 East Boulevard Street.
The families in the building likely never expected to be there but after tornadoes ripped through their town last week they couldn’t be more thankful recovery warehouse exists.
“It’s pretty awesome that (donors) have actually given people these things and helped out a lot,” said Kiley Stackhouse. Like many people in Kokomo, her life has been turned upside down. Her home wasn’t destroyed, but it’s nearly unlivable. “We have a roof that has a few holes and the whole left side of our house, the windows are out,” she said.
Her family is currently staying at a hotel.
At the tornado recovery warehouse, her family loaded up on food, cleaning supplies, water, and a new trash can.
The makeshift supermarket also had canned goods, clothes for adults and children and hygiene products.
And just as fast as people are grabbing what they need, donations continued rolling in allowing volunteers to constantly restock their supply as more families waited their turn for help.
“It’s overwhelming emotionally and physically as a matter of fact,” said Van Taylor, Kokomo Rescue Mission executive director.
The donations bring a smile to his face, but he understands the problems tornado victims are dealing with days after the storms.
“Most of the people are still going, I just want to get back to normal and for some people that’s going to be a while and we really hurt for them, because it’s not going to be tomorrow,” he said.
But even if the next day is a difficult one, at least having a full stomach or a clean house will give the families some hope as they start over.
“The people here are just so nice,” said tornado victim Shaun Richardson. “They helped me out.”
Taylor said families planning to go visit the warehouse must bring proof of address to verify that they sustained tornado damage or lost power.
“There are some people that may take advantage of the system so we just want to make sure we’re helping the truly needy, those people that really their house was really blown apart or they were damaged significantly,” he said. Taylor added that people who lost power causing the food in the refrigerators or freezers are also welcome to the warehouse,
It’s open from 12:00 p.m.to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.