CMU student organizing Oklahoma tornado relief trip
With images of a tornado-torn Oklahoma City suburb fresh in her mind, one student decided to take action and offer relief to the affected city.
On May 22, an EF5 tornado with winds of at least 200 mph destroyed much of the city of Moore, leaving 24 people dead and more than $2 billion in property damage in its wake.
The devastation left an impact Mount Pleasant senior Chloe Mercer, so she decided to do something about it. She is in the process of organizing a relief trip to Oklahoma City starting Aug. 15.
“I thought it would be a good idea to get the community involved and see what we could do,” Mercer said.
Mercer has worked closely with Scott Harding, the founder and CEO of the National Relief Network, to make the trip happen.
She said giving back to the community was commonplace growing up in her family and that her background in construction and medical firefighting made a trip to Oklahoma make sense to her.
She said one of the goals of this relief trip is to expose young adults to relief work in the hopes they will continue to give back throughout their lifetime.
“It’s a very rewarding trip, not just in the sense of for the community we plan on helping, but also for the volunteers themselves," Mercer said.
Mercer’s originally hoped to have 35 volunteers come along to cover the minimum price for the charter bus, but she has heard from at least 65 who plan to volunteer.
Travel to and from Oklahoma, travel between job sites, food and accommodation are all included in the cost, which will vary depending on how many people end up volunteering.
The relief trip will last from August 15 until August 20 and volunteers will assist the people of Oklahoma City.
Mercer said she is also fundraising and looking for other donations such as food to feed the volunteers during the ride to Oklahoma.
She has previously assisted in relief work after 9/11, the Van Wert, Ohio tornado in 2002 and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, among other disasters.
CMU health sciences professor Jodi Brookins-Fisher has signed up to volunteer. Brookins-Fisher said Mercer is "single-handedly" getting the community involved in the tornado relief effort.
“It’s something that comes from her heart,” Brookins-Fisher said.
