March 2017
In the aftermath of the wind storms and reported tornado that tore through Ottawa and Naplate, Illinois, on Tuesday, February 28, Northbrook, Illinois, based Lutheran Church Charities quickly responded to a devastated and hurting community with their Lutheran Early Response Team (LERT) volunteers, chainsaw teams, and LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs.
Within nine hours after the tornado ending, LCC President Tim Hetzner and LCC Director of Disaster Response Kathy O’Day arrived very early on the morning of Wednesday, March 1, to work with Pastor David Daniel from Zion Lutheran Church in Ottawa to assess damage and make arrangements for rapid response clean-up efforts by the weekend.
On Saturday, March 3, and Sunday, March 4, approximately 100 LERT volunteers from 20 congregations joined forces to come to the aid of people in need in Ottawa and Naplate. During the two days, LERT teams completed over 40 jobs for families whose homes were affected by the storm.
Clean-up efforts included chainsaw teams removing fallen trees that had crashed down in yards and on homes while other volunteers cleared massive amounts of debris that scattered across homeowners’ properties, helping to recover whatever they could.
Zion Lutheran Church’s preschool has over 50 students, and LCC K-9 Comfort Dogs were at the school and with preschool director Sue Roberts on Wednesday, March 8.
Zion’s church and preschool buildings were not in the path of the storm that took one life and injured more than a dozen others. But some church and school families were affected. Lutheran Church Charities website continues to accept donations to help local families.