Joplin Native Collects Clothes, Gift Cards at Sports Clips to Help Her Hometown

As President Obama prepares to visit Joplin area this weekend to take stock of the devastation caused by Sunday's earthquake, a Creve Coeur hair stylist with family in Joplin will do the same, and hopefully with lots of supplies in hand.

Kim O’Dell counts herself fortunate because none of her family members in Joplin were harmed.

Her father, Richard O’Dell, found a working land-line in the neighborhood and called her immediately after the storm to let her know her family members were safe and their homes in the Joplin and Webb City area were relatively unscathed.

 But when O’Dell, a native of Joplin, talked about her hometown where an F-4 tornado struck Sunday, killing at least 118 people, she looked like she was in shock.

“It was very strange,” said O’Dell, a hair stylist at “The first image that we saw was the hospital, and when I was 19 and going through hair school, I worked at the hospital.”

“The hospital just wasn’t there. It looked like the land had been cleared, and the trees’ bark peeled off, they were just like toothpicks sticking in the ground. It was overwhelming,” said O’Dell, of St. Charles.

O’Dell decided that rather than simply sit and search the Internet and Facebook, she would do something. She decided to collect all the clothing and Wal-Mart gift cards she could find.

When Jennifer Clark, the Sports Clips store manager, saw the news, she immediately thought of O’Dell. O’Dell called Clark the next morning and asked for help. Clark then called Sports Clips franchise owner Barbara Marshall.

“I wanted to help her out,” said Clark, as she held her six-week-old baby, Dominic. “We’re just reaching out to families who need help. It’s tough, especially when you have little ones.”

Marshall, membership director for the not only decided to use the Sports Clips as a collection point, but emailed chamber members and other contacts asking for donations.

“It’s a family. When one person’s hurting, everybody’s hurting,” Marshall said. “We’re just hoping to do whatever we can to help.”

Anyone wishing to donate to O’Dell’s effort can bring clothing or Wal-Mart gift cards to the Sports Clips hair salon at 12426 Olive Blvd. in Creve Coeur. O’Dell also works at Studio Lane hair salon at 115 First Capitol Drive in St. Charles, which also will be collecting the items.

“We can’t really use home goods yet because a lot of people don’t have homes,” she said.

O’Dell plans to bring the items to distribute in Joplin on Saturday, so those bringing items should get them to Sports Clips in Creve Coeur by 8 p.m. Friday or to Studio Lane by 8 p.m. Thursday.

“We’re hoping to collect at least three car loads,” O’Dell said. “If we collect more than that, maybe somebody could donate the use of a U-Haul.”

O’Dell said she knows what it’s like to be in a storm-torn area. She was living in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., when Hurricane Katrina hit.

“It’s hard to imagine until you’re in an area when it’s hit,” O’Dell said. “You’re out of work for a couple of weeks. In Florida, nothing was open for about two or three weeks. The power was out, gas stations were closed.”

The tornado tore through the heart of Joplin’s main commerce center, so many people won’t be able to go to work, she said. People in many smaller towns depend on Joplin for shopping and services.

O’Dell’s high school is severely damaged and she doesn’t know if it can be repaired.

“I have a friend who lives in St. Charles, and she has a cousin trapped in Home Depot still,” she said Monday afternoon. “They found his truck in the parking lot, and they still haven’t gotten everybody out of there yet. They’re still looking for him.”

“From following it on Facebook and TV here, I knew a lot more about what had happened than people living in the town,” O’Dell said. “All the cell phone networks were either down or busy. Some of my friends were able to receive text messages, but they weren’t able to send anything out.”

Her first impulse was to go home right away, she said.

“It’s overwhelming. I have an urge to go and help, but I also know that physically I’m probably not going to be as much help (in Joplin) as I could just gathering resources here.”

Another way to donate is by donating to the American Red Cross Greater Ozarks Regional Chapter.