Monday I was honored to host a Joplin volunteer by taking him on a tour through the recovery zone to see clean up, rebuilding efforts, our new schools, and the new MERCY hospital. He and 300+ volunteers from OTC came to Joplin for two weeks, just 10 days after the historic EF-5. Since that time he has not been back to Joplin, until today. He was speechless and in awe of our progress. Even in the cold hard rain and wind, I took him through the Tribute to Volunteers Garden, Miracle of the Human Spirit station, as well as each area of the new Butterfly Memorial Garden and Hope Waterfall. He was deeply moved by the entire experience in Cunningham park. As I drove him through the neighborhoods around the new Joplin High School where he and his team had volunteered, he shared with me the details of his own heart wrenching story. It was a story centered on the families they would come to know and love while helping them dig through the rubble of their shattered lives and I could see in his face his own memories were rushing back to him, ones Im sure hes tried to forget. He said the student volunteers were profoundly touched by the experience, and they left Joplin carrying a heavy heart for our people. Near the end of our time together he thanked me repeatedly for the tour, because it gave him inspiring new images of Joplin replacing the ones he had of destruction and sadness. He said, Joplin is truly a city of hope and hospitality. As Joplinites, let us never miss an opportunity to say thank you to the many volunteers, and lets teach our children to do the same, for generations to come.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 11:08:57 +0000
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