Our Thoughts and Prayers go out to our Rich Mountain Collegues and the Mena Community

I am amazed at all the email and phone calls I have gotten!! My family and I are fine; the tornado that totally wrecked many residential neighborhoods in our little town of Mena, came very close to our home. We saw it and heard it, and then we ran to the safe room we had built into our house! It was heading directly toward our home, but it turned and went up a state highway 1/2 mile from us. The worst that happened to us was that we were without power for a day and a half. But many, many in Mena were not nearly that fortunate. If a bomb would have been dropped in our most populous neighborhoods, it could not have done more damage. There are blocks and blocks of what were residential neighborhoods totally destroyed.

Rich Mountain Community College took a direct hit. Every building was affected, with three of our four buildings on campus severely damaged. Our entire fleet of buses, vans, and cars are gone. We even had one bus lodged in a tree! We spent the day today cleaning out our offices and securing our files in truck-sized waterproof pods. Right now, none of us know is going to happen. Mena was under a dawn to dusk curfew for about a week until the National Guard could secure what is left of people's assets. A door-to-door search found three people dead, and while this is a real tragedy, it's also an absolute miracle.

Two of our TRIO staff, Jeanette Berry and Rodney Rowland, lost their homes, but they are OK. Our VP of Academics at RMCC lost everything he and his family had - everything. The only thing left standing at his home were the walls where he and his family were hiding when the tornado hit. People have been so kind to us and want to know what they can do. Right now, we need kind thoughts and prayers sent our way. Our town is small, but to many, many people here, this is our home, and everything we have in the whole world is here. Our sheriff's office is coordinating clean-up and volunteer efforts, so any group that is interested in helping, let me know, and I'll give you the phone number where you can get more information.

Thanks again for all the calls, prayers, and emails. Several people have asked me where they can send donations, and the following is information that has come through our Chamber of Commerce. We've had all kinds of relief agencies come into Mena from various church groups, and the Red Cross has been pivotal in helping families in the area. Donations can be made to:

Mena Disaster Recovery Fund at First National Bank of Mena Account # 2000351792 P.O. Box 1049, Mena, AR 71953

To donate to the Red Cross you can click here; you can put in that the money given is for the Mena Tornado Relief Fund

Submitted by Lucy Jones