FRYBURG, OH (WLIO) - Volunteers of all ages, even some from as far as Virginia, gathered in Fryburg on Saturday, making noticeable progress in clearing away the debris left by the March 14th tornado.
Starting early Saturday morning, people began pouring into Fryburg with all sorts of machinery, trucks, equipment, or even just a pair of gloves to spend the day cleaning up the Glacier Hill campground and nearby homes that were hit by the tornado earlier this month. There's still a lot left to do, but some areas are already looking much better than they did a week ago.
"It's changed a lot. It's still a disaster, but it is getting cleaned up. It's going to take time. I mean, this is not something you're going to get over in a week. But yeah, it's definitely life-changing for many people," said Nancy Steinke, whose aunt and uncle lost the house they've lived in for 50 years.
Among the volunteers were kids from groups like 4H, boy scouts, and the Botkins baseball team, as well as people from local churches, business owners, and even a disaster relief non-profit from Virginia called Operation Blessing. They brought volunteers of all skill levels to work on removing tree debris.
"It's very important to have skilled people that know what they're doing in disaster relief, but a good marriage is when you have skilled people that are doing things and then you have volunteers that are paying attention and helping with that," explained Alan Motes, a deployment technician with Operation Blessing. "So, we have people chainsawing, but then we have people volunteering who can pull the limbs aside, and they can continue to chainsaw."
For the families who lost their homes, it's hard to describe just how grateful they are for every stranger that has walked up to them to ask, "How can I help?"
"Words can't express how much it means to everyone. Because it's a lot to try to clean up all of this, and on your own, but to have so many people, it was a very big blessing. I know my aunt and uncle thanks everybody very much, as you can see on our walls. My aunt wanted me to do that to thank everybody in the community that came out today," Steinke continued.
There are also countless individuals and organizations whose contributions aren't quite as loud as a Bobcat or a chainsaw, providing necessary relief like covering hotel bills for displaced residents and fundraising to help survivors replace items like glasses and wheelchairs.
