Thousands of photos and videos captured the devastation caused by the July 27 Appleton-Menasha tornado after it tore through the western Fox Cities.
Only when you’re on the ground, though, walking among the torn-apart houses and massive piles of debris hauled to the curb, can you fully appreciate the magnitude of the destruction.
I, along with my wife, Kathleen, and nearly 2,700 other people, volunteered to help with the cleanup and recovery on Aug. 1. We gathered at Winnebago County’s Fox Cities campus in Menasha, where we registered with Volunteer Fox Cities and received safety training and personal protective equipment before being deployed to areas in need.
As a reporter for The Post-Crescent, I spent the first five days after the tornado taking photos and writing stories, doing my best to keep residents informed about the extent of the damage and the government and community response.
As Friday came to close, I knew I needed to do more to help.
At the volunteer center, Kathleen and I teamed with five others to form a group of seven. We introduced ourselves and were dispatched to the Town of Neenah, specifically Maple Lane, Rainbow Beach Road and Plummers Harbor Road.
In my mind, I questioned why we would be deployed to that area, as I knew from my reporting that other areas in Menasha, Neenah and Fox Crossing suffered greater damage. I soon realized that this area also needed help.
By 11 a.m., our group began pulling branches and limbs to the roadside for pickup by municipal crews. We knocked on doors to ask residents whether they needed help. Some said they were OK or had hired a professional service for cleanup. Others welcomed the extra hands.
We picked debris from the riprap along the Lake Winnebago shoreline – mainly pieces of Styrofoam and insulation blown from who knows where – that a homeowner couldn’t reach. We carried his garbage to the roadside.
For the most part, though, we dragged branches from yards to the roadside for either pickup or chipping.
After about three hours, members of our group had other commitments and reported back to the volunteer center. Kathleen and I joined another volunteer group in the field and were directed to Doty Island.
This group included Jyn Magyar of Green Bay. She came equipped with a Stihl chainsaw, and she knew how to use it.
With Jyn slicing up a fallen tree at a Neenah home in the 400 block of 11th Street, the rest of our new group hauled the pieces to the curb. It was difficult to find adequate space. The piles reached 10 feet high. I was amazed at how much work had been done in the past five days. The homeowner thanked us, and we moved onto a neighbor’s house.
Much of that group disbanded about 3:45 p.m. I never did catch all their names; we just said hi and got to work.
Jyn, Kathleen and I joined a third group clearing yards on Nicolet Boulevard near Smith Park in Menasha. This group already had a volunteer with a chainsaw, so with two chainsaws running, we removed an incredible amount of wood and debris in a short time.
About 4:30 p.m., someone dropped off hamburgers, cheeseburgers and water. I didn’t notice who, but it was a welcome sight.
By 5 p.m., we were asked to report back to the volunteer center. We were hot, dirty and exhausted, but I felt that we had made a difference, however small. And I know that difference was multiplied by thousands of other volunteers.
As of Aug. 4, Volunteer Fox Cities no longer is asking the public to report to the volunteer center as it transitions to specialized volunteer assignments.
Carolyn Desrosiers, CEO of Volunteer Fox Cities, encouraged people to check the organization’s social media pages and website for information about how to volunteer in the coming days.
Residents affected by the tornado will thank you for it.
Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X at @DukeBehnke.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Volunteers make a difference in cleanup after Appleton-Menasha tornado
Reporting by Duke Behnke, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Duke Behnke, Appleton Post-Crescent | USA TODAY Network
