Volunteers, neighbors pitch in for tornado cleanup


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/16/08

Cooks at the Salvation Army shelter on Luckie Street threw an extra 600 eggs on the griddle Sunday morning.

The shelter, which regularly feeds 250 of downtown Atlanta's homeless, made the orders "to go," sending breakfasts of eggs, bacon and toast out across town to storm victims and an army of volunteers.

Johnny Crawford/AJC
ric Lyons cuts a tree off of a house in Cabbagetown on Sunday.
 
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In Cabbagetown, the spacious art gallery Eyedrum offered victims a place to camp.

The gallery had no takers, which Jess Blankenship, a member of the gallery's board, saw as a positive sign. "Neighbors and family are really taking care of each other," she said Sunday.

In Vine City, members of Mount Gilead Missionary Baptist Church handed out bottled water and food on Saturday and were getting ready for the Salvation Army to roll up with more food, shortly after Palm Sunday services ended.

"Everybody's in good spirits," said the Rev. Dexter Johnson, the church's pastor. "Everybody knows this community is resilient and always comes back."

Sunday's services had to be held in the parking lot after the church lost part of its roof and had other structural damage, Johnson said.

Across Atlanta, volunteers pitched in to help neighbors and strangers touched by Friday's 135 mph tornado.

"They are coming together, just cleaning up the debris and comforting each other," said state Rep. Mable Thomas (D-Atlanta).

Thomas was working Sunday on plans for a "command center" to address the more longterm needs of Vine City residents, many of whom she said have no insurance but significant home damage.

The Red Cross had 50 people bed down Saturday night at a shelter set up at Central Park Recreation Center. About 50 Red Cross volunteers did damage assessments of 700 homes on Saturday and were back out doing more on Sunday, said spokeswoman Laurie Kimbrell.

The agency will offer one-on-one assistance to storm victims starting Monday, she said.

The Salvation Army, which served nearly 2,000 meals over the weekend, will start Monday to give out 1,000 packages of nonperishable food, said communications manager Lafeea Watsons. The packages have enough food to feed a family of four for a week, she said.

At the Eyedrum, neighbors may not be bunking in, but they are taking advantage of the gallery's offer of bottled water and wine and Wi-Fi.

Blankenship said Sunday the gallery's become a place where neighbors are coming to swap equipment, like chain saws, or to take a break from their clean-up efforts.

"It was heartbreaking, so we want to do anything we can," she said.

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