From Creve Coeur To Joplin: Supplies and People Made Their Way To Joplin In The Past Week

In the past week, a handful of people with Creve Coeur ties have made the trip from St. Louis to Joplin as part of various efforts to help in the aftermath of a powerful tornado which has killed more than 130 people, with the number of people unaccounted for dwindling by the hour.

Kim O'Dell, a stylist at SportsClips, went down on Saturday, bringing along with her children's clothing donations she had collected at salons in Creve Coeur and St. Charles. Friday, she reported collecting so much that someone else would be joining her to deliver a second car of items.

Thursday, a contingent of firefighter-paramedics from the returned from the devastated city following a 2 day deployment as part of a county-wide Urban Search and Rescue unit.

And on Wednesday, a representative of the made the one day journey to Joplin and back, bringing along household staples to supply the Ronald McDonald House in Joplin, which incredibly, did not sustain damage in the tornado but has been functioning without power.

In a letter to St. Louis area staff members, Jenifer Braucksieker, director of local House Operations in this area told her colleagues about the trip, with her son Zane:

"Everyone is asking how it was and all I can say is my brain was on overload. Everywhere you looked it was just more that you could take in. The amazing part of the trip was to witness the amount of volunteers from everywhere pitching in to help. It was like a busy bee hive of workers, cutting up trees and clearing roads, just so the families could get to their home sites.   There were tents set up everywhere for shelter, and food stations. The pictures we took can’t describe the energy of people coming together to help."

Braucksieker shared this photo gallery with Creve Coeur Patch.

While the outpouring of support through donations of materials has no doubt been appreciated, financial donations are the best way to help. Relief agencies can convert money into goods and services and more easily get them where they need to go. For a rundown of those options, we've linked to that information here.