School Becomes Relief Hub After Illinois Tornado Strikes

Two days after an EF-3 tornado tore through Kankakee County, Illinois, a school campus is buzzing with an energy that has nothing to do with classes and everything to do with hope.

Grace Christian Academy canceled school to become a relief hub. Now volunteers are organizing mountains of supplies while neighbors help neighbors carry tarps, food, and diapers to their cars.

Pastor Chad Dalton says tarps are flying off the shelves. People are covering not just damaged homes but cars battered by the Tuesday evening storm that ripped through Kankakee and Aroma Township.

The need is immediate and real. Baby supplies, gallon water jugs for flushing toilets, and cleaning supplies fill the halls where students usually study.

Jared Harris came to gather supplies for his aunt, whose Aroma Park home was completely destroyed. She made it to her basement in time and survived without injury, but her home, cars, and garage are gone.

"Everybody should lend a helping hand when need be," Harris said. "I'm just trying to be that extra hand right now."

School secretary Lauri DeYoung drove past houses she'd seen for years on her morning commute. They simply weren't there anymore.

Despite the devastation, she's helping sort supplies. Her own home only lost power for 24 hours.

The Ripple Effect

Andrea Trivino, the assistant principal, coordinated volunteers even though her own home still had no power or running water Thursday. Several school families lost everything, and staff went out Wednesday to help them salvage what they could.

"This wall of water and groceries and diapers, it's just amazing to see," Trivino said. The community response has exceeded every expectation.

For Trivino, the work itself provides relief. "It helps take the heaviness away when I take the focus off of myself and I'm able to help others," she said.

Craig Calhoun and his wife picked up blankets, hygiene products, and a clear plastic sheet for their car's shattered rear windshield. Their Evergreen Avenue home lost several windows, and their car took such severe hail damage that 1,200 people were ahead of them for rental cars.

The survival bags from ComEd, the supplies from neighbors, and the helping hands made all the difference. "This has been a big help right here," Calhoun said.

When disaster strikes, helpers gather, and in Kankakee County, they're showing up in extraordinary numbers.