Special to the Times Vedette
The Guthrie Center-based donations warehouse that housed Greenfield tornado material donations closed on Aug. 6. Two Guthrie County Fair buildings were used for this space. This local tornado relief effort consisted of collecting early donations late May through June, and then sorting, boxing and putting them on pallets by category. Needed products were then trucked back to Greenfield donation distribution sites as requested.
In early August, through a joint effort of volunteers from both Guthrie Center and Greenfield, all of the remaining donations were returned to Greenfield where they will continue to distribute supplies.
Iowa-Missouri Adventist Community Services managed this local warehouse. The organization, when called on, provides support for disaster response locations in Iowa. On-site efforts in Guthrie Center were directed by the Guthrie Center Seventh-day Adventist Church.
“We thank the Guthrie County Fair Board for the use of two fair buildings so that we could fulfill our portion of the relief efforts, and that Guthrie Center could be a good neighbor to Greenfield,” Guthrie Center Seventh-day Adventist Church Pastor Steven Goodenough said.
“A big thank you goes out to Hy-Vee and Fareway for their disaster support,” Goodenough continued. “We appreciated the support from the Penske organization that provided trucks for the transport of the donations. We also want to thank the local merchants who donated supplies and assistance to our efforts and the many people of Guthrie Center and surrounding towns that assisted at the warehouse.”
Goodenough said the project could not have been completed without the support received from the community.
“And our work would not have been effective without the tireless leadership of Jeremy Cooper, EMA Coordinator and his teams,” Goodenough said, noting that the loaning of support equipment was essential to the movement of the goods.
“It is important that at times like these that we pitch in together to support the need at hand. In this case, the need was obvious and the support plenteous,” Goodenough said. “So, once again, we thank our community for the support of this project where we could be a good neighbor to Greenfield. And they appreciate all of your support to help them in their time of need.”
