Board of Aldermen staff donate necessities, food to those affected by tornado
“They see a neighbor who needs help and they came running.”
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Nearly a month after a tornado swept through parts of St. Louis City, resources are still flowing into the community. Those who represent these areas are ing in and giving back.
“When the windows blew out, the wind picked up, and it just picked up everything in every room all around. My house looks like a trash dump,” said James T. Williams Jr.
Williams, known in his neighborhood as “Protein,” says 17 windows in his house needed to be boarded up after the tornado hit on May 16, and that was only some of the damage.
Williams made his way to the Youth In Need Academy at the corner of Raymond and Clarendon, after his Alderwoman, Shameem Clark-Hubbard called, “and told me to come running. I’m right around the corner from your house’, and one thing about Alderlady Hubbard, being out here now, it’s just part of what she does.”
“The board of Alderman, their staff, clerks and staff, said ‘Hey, we want to do something, we want to get on the ground,’ and since there were alders that they could directly connect with, they reached out to us and said this is what we want to do, let us know where we can show up.’” said Alderwoman Shameem Clark-Hubbard.
The people who work behind the scenes, stepping up, getting the department together to raise money to create kits, with all the things people need.
“We just felt here at the board that we wanted to do something, not just me, but all of us,” said Ora Heggs, an Associate Clerk and the organizer.
For Heggs, it’s personal.
“I’m a girl from the Northside, the heart of the Northside, and my mother’s house is still in the Northside, and it was damaged, and those are my people, it’s my culture,” said Heggs.
Packing up her car with kits and giving out a hot meal to those who need it. Working to keep resources flowing. Something that doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated.
“I matter, and I have people who, most of them I don’t even know, who don’t care about that part, they see a neighbor who needs help and they came running,” said Williams.
Heggs says this is the first of many events, the next will be in another ward affected.
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