District 6060 Tornados (May 2025)

As you may or may not know, last Friday, the St. Louis area, as well as other areas of our district, were again hit by a series of tornadoes.

Dan Flynn, our District Disaster Response Chair, called me this morning with an update. “As of this morning, in the St. Louis area, there have been 5 fatalities and 48,000 people are still without power (down from 150,000). The Red Cross is operating 3 shelters. Authorities are still asking for volunteers to stay out of the area due to downed trees and live power lines and the instability of structures (as is usual, the greatest amount of damage is in the oldest part of the city, which, of course, is also the poorest part of the city).

Due to this, there are still no official Donations or Volunteer Coordination Centers set up. The “Powers That Be” know that we are standing by with volunteers when they have a place to send them. In the meantime, I am sending my folks to the United Way’s volunteering site, stlvolunteers.org.”

The Rotary Club of St. Louis, also known as Club 11, has graciously agreed to use their Rotary Club of St. Louis Welfare Fund, a 501c3 foundation, to collect and disperse funds that are donated by Rotarians or friends of Rotarians to help our area.

Monetary donations can be mailed to the following address. Payable to Rotary Club of St. Louis Welfare Fund (please note for Tornado recovery efforts).

We also take Venmo Venmo | ST. LOUIS ROTARY CLUB WELFARE FUND, INC

Rotary Club of St. Louis
405 Washington Ave
St. Louis, MO 63102.

Thank you to the Rotary Club of St. Louis for offering this help.

Our southern area was also hit by tornadoes on Friday. As in the March and April storms, here are the Rotary Clubs and other groups that are accepting donations to help recover from the past and most recent devastation.

Within our district, we have several agencies collecting funds and supplies to help those residents affected. They are:

Reynolds County/Piedmont Rotary Disaster Relief Fund
C/o Peoples Community Bank
PO Box 639
700 Highway 21
Ellington, Mo 63638
PayPal: @reycorotaryclub If using PayPal, please check the box for Disaster Relief Account

Rotary Club of Poplar Bluff Disaster Relief
First Midwest Bank
204 E Pine St.
Poplar Bluff, MO 63901

Perry County Relief Fund
Perryville City Hall
215 N West St.
Perryville, MO 63775

Franklin County Area United Way
Long-Term Recovery Efforts for the March 2025 Tornado
PO Box 3
Washington, MO 63090
https://franklincountyuw.org/donate/
Please note the donation is for the Long-Term Recovery Efforts for the March 2025 Tornado

Television station KFVS in Cape Girardeau is working with the Salvation Army to raise money.
https://www.kfvs12.com/2025/03/17/heartland-cares-tornado-relief-2025/

East Missouri Action Agency. Those who need assistance should contact the EMAA at 1-800-392-8663, ext. 1105 or ext. 1125.
You can also click here to visit the EMAA online. Contributions can be made online here.

Cape Area Community Foundation
An affiliate of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks
Contributions may be made to this fund online at: http://cfozarks.org/capecommunityimpact
OR by writing a check to “Cape Area Community Foundation” with “4/2/2025 Tornado” in the memo, and mailing it to 980 N. Kingshighway, Suite #103, Cape Girardeau, MO, 63701.

Southeast Missouri Food Bank
Donate here for storm relief help.

Salvation Army
https://give.helpsalvationarmy.org/give/166081/#!/donation/checkout
Please check the box for Missouri and Southern Illinois Tornadoes (March 2025)

California Wildfires (January 2025)

There are now up to 10,000 structures destroyed in the Los Angeles area, 36,000 acres burned, 150,000 ordered to evacuate, and another 166,000 warned they may need to flee. Districts 5280 and 5300 are being heavily impacted. Both Districts are deeply engaged in organizing disaster relief efforts. Firefighters have come in from all over the US and Canada. Civil authorities are responding the best they can, but the situation at this point is out of control. And more high winds are forecast for.

Our Rotarians are responding the best of their ability, but many have been personally affected. The Los Angeles area has been devastated by large fires that are burning out of control in several areas. Many thousands of homes have been destroyed, and tens of thousands of residents have been evacuated.

Our Rotary colleagues in the affected Districts – Districts 5280 and 5300 – have activated District Disaster Relief Funds to assist the victims of the fires. District 5280 (Los Angeles) has also created a Resource Directory and online spreadsheet for In-Kind Donations.

To access information and links to District 5280’s Wildfire Disaster Relief Fund and other resources, please click here: https://rotary5280.org/page/2025-wildfire-disaster-relief/

To access information and a link to District 5300’s Wildfire Disaster Relief Fund, please click here: https://www.district5300.org/ca-wild-fires/ 

The Rotary Foundation
Disaster Response Fund

Your gift helps Rotary clubs provide disaster recovery and support rebuilding efforts. Contributions are combined into one fund and made available through Rotary Disaster Response Grants; they cannot be directed to a specific disaster.

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Disaster Network of Assistance
Rotary Action Group

Works to develop an interactive network of Rotarians, Rotaractors, and their spouses, and affiliated Rotarian and other groups to assist with disaster preparedness, communication, and recovery on a worldwide basis.

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