Tornadoes Wreck Homes across North Texas
Txmoase, from Red Oak, TX, is a storm chaser for Skywarn/National Weather Service. His photos of Lancaster, TX on April 3 were uploaded to CNN iReporter.
ON APRIL 3, 2012, A ROUND OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS pushed through parts of Dallas, Arlington, Hutchins, Lancaster and Forney and triggered 17 tornadoes. Fortunately for our community,no deaths were associated with this tornado outbreak, but 350 homes were destroyed. To respond, CFT opened our Disaster Relief fund and encouraged donors and community members to contribute both monetarily and through volunteering to rebuild the affected communities.
Employees at VHA, a local healthcare company, raised funds to support the tornado victims. “We researched many different organizations to ensure our donation would help with long-term recovery for the disaster,” says Terri Scannell, director of Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability at VHA.
“We chose CFT because they are trusted in the community and they have a high fiduciary responsibility towards funds they manage.” With a company match, VHA donated over $15,000 to CFT’s disaster relief fund.
Dallas is unique in the fact that we have a mass care task force. It is a firstin- the-nation disaster collaboration between the American Red Cross Dallas Area Chapter, The Salvation Army, the North Texas Food Bank and the Volunteer Center of North Texas. The Volunteer Center of North Texas provided volunteers who assisted with debris removal, managed and distributed donated supplies and operated assistance centers in Lancaster and other affected areas.
To register to volunteer for future local disaster relief, contact the Volunteer
Center of North Texas at 214.826.6767 or www.vcnt.org.