Church services at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church marked a slight return to normal on Sunday, after the past few days have been anything but.
Parishioner James Burgess, who came to the service with his wife and kids, described the overall mood,
“Just thanksgiving for the fact that our family was safe from the ordeal,” He said. Also, the folks that did lose material things there was no loss of life.”
Families continued to come together, sharing stories of neighbors helping neighbors.
“The kids’ music teacher, her sister and family lost their home and they have young children,” Sarah Burgess, parishioner and James' wife said. “They’ve been taken care of and brought into another home.”
The church itself is now part of the effort to try and help victims with the next steps. Mandy Busch shared how the church wants to provide continued support throughout the recovery journey for storm victims.
“What we want to be is a long-term place where people can come and receive support,” Busch said. “Especially financially, so we’re collecting gift cards and monetary donations.”
Their role isn’t an unfamiliar one, the church helped victims of the floods of 2019. While this challenge may be different, the church’s approach is the same.
“What we do is as people we come together and we let love see us through,” Fr. Tom Fangman said.
The church expects to help families impacted by the tornado for years to come, more information on the church’s efforts can be found on their website.
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