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The help keeps on coming for tornado victims

Date: 6/28/2011

June 29, 2011

By G. Michael Dobbs and Debbie Gardner

SPRINGFIELD — Although the tornado that struck Western Massachusetts happened almost a month ago, many organizations are still donating time and money to assist residents with volunteers and money.

Maj. Thomas Perks, commander of the Springfield Corps of the Massachusetts Division of the Salvation Army, visited the Rocky’s Hardware store on Island Pond Road on June 24 to accept the company’s donation of $12,800 for tornado relief.

Rocky’s Hardware President Rocco Falcone explained as he presented the check to Perks that the donation was a combination of 10 percent of the sales from all Massachusetts Rocky’s on June 14 — designated as the company’s Tornado Relief Day — and nearly $2,000 in customer and employee donations.

Falcone, who was in the company’s corporate offices adjacent to the Island Pond Road store — “about 100 yards away” from where the tornado hit on June 1 — said the idea for the company fund-raiser came out of a senior manager’s meeting a few days after the storm.

“We were thinking about what we could do to help our neighbors,” Falcone said, referring to the many homes that were destroyed less than a mile from the corporate offices, as well as the destruction throughout the greater Springfield area. “We came up with the idea of donating a part of our sales [from our Massachusetts stores] to help the community.”

Falcone said Rocky’s chose the Salvation Army as the recipient of its donation because “the money stays local and we know it will be put to good use.”

Perks noted that the donation would “go directly into the disaster relief fund, and will be used when needed.” He added that the Salvation Army feels “very responsible for any donations that come to us.”

Perks said the Salvation Army is collaborating with other relief organizations from across the area, as well as Springfield leaders, to ensure all donations to his organization are used to help those individuals in the most need.

On June 25, members of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, an international Buddhist charitable group, came to Springfield to issue debit cards to tornado victims through Springfield Partners for Community Action (SPCA).

Jennifer Ying, a spokesperson for the group, explained to Reminder Publications, that members of the group from Newton contacted the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency about what was needed and one of the answers was monetary aid for families.

The recipients of the debit cards, which can only be used for selected purchases, such as food and building supplies, had to be registered with the Red Cross in order to receive the help.

The Tzu Chi Foundation operates around the world with volunteer assistance and donations. Most recently, members of the group were in Joplin, Mo., after its recent tornado providing meals and disaster assessment to victims.

Before members of the group distributed the cards, a prayer service was conducted and the origins of the group were explained. The foundation was established in 1966 in Hualien County, Taiwan, by Dharma Master Cheng Yen who asked 30 housewives to save two cents a day in banks made from bamboo in order the help the poor. The foundation has grown to nearly 10 million volunteers and supporters in 50 countries.

At the ceremony, the affected Springfield residents were asked if they would like a bank to save for the needy and many responded that they would.

SPCA Executive Director Paul Bailey commended the foundation members for their help. The group donated 106 debit cards, ranging in value from $100 to $400, depending upon the size of the family, which assisted 343 people. Another 47 cards will be distributed on July 2.

Other recent volunteers efforts and donations include a $25,000 donation to the American Red Cross for tornado relief from Westfield Bank; a Comcast Foundation contribution of $50,000 to the Western Massachusetts Tornado Relief Efforts being administered by the United Way of the Pioneer Valley; after making a $100,000 donation from the Hasbro Children’s Fund to the American Red Cross, a busload of Hasbro, Inc. employees from Rhode Island and East Longmeadow volunteered their time with the Salvation Army on June 27; and a group of children from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been helping cleaning up yards of homes affected by the storm.



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