GILMER, Texas — With continued tornado recovery efforts, area students are stepping up to the plate.
Jayde Childress and Randal Lemmon are East Texas Baptist University students. They normally spend their Tuesday afternoons at Tennis practice but instead opted to head out to Azalea Road in Gilmer salvaging what ever they could and whatever the storm left behind.
“We wanted to help out and support the community and do some good for the community as a team," Childress said.
Childress was in charge of finding sentimental items among the rubble and so was sophomore Hannah Keltner. Most things she found couldn't be saved.
“I saw a baby blanket earlier and it was ripped to shreds and it was really hard to see that and sadly I had to throw that away," Keltner said.
Student volunteers started their day at a disaster relief hub behind Gilmer Civic Center.
Amber Hill with the Gilmer Fire Department and relief operations said there are Salvation Army and American Red Cross stations, mobile showers and a fully donation driven stock of supplies, and food for those in recovery.
“We're sitting at 199 homes that have been damaged in some way,” Hill said.
That’s only in Upshur County. She said with the storms about a week in our rearview, there’s still a lot of ground to cover. They are in need of volunteers.
“The projects keep coming in especially with us going out and doing these reassessments, we are going to see a bigger influx," Hill said.
To donate your time, supplies, or if you’re in need of assistance visit New Beginnings Baptist Church’s website here.