VILONIA, AR — From thousands of people helping tornado victims to dozens, more volunteers are needed in Faulkner County.
Team Rubicon organizes the volunteer efforts in Faulkner County. A spokesman said the weekend after a deadly EF-4 tornado hit Faulkner County, around 4,600 people showed up to lend a helping hand, but this week the numbers have fallen off. At quitting time on Wednesday, only about 12 people were volunteering.
Jeff Rottluff is a college student from Missouri helping victims, he said, “It’s nice to be able to just come down and give a helping hand.”
“Just putting these people’s lives back together and that’s really why we are down here, so that’s our primary goal.”
Jeff was one of the few giving back this week, but he hoped he and his fellow classmates were an inspiration for others to help.
“I just hope we are encouragement for other groups to continue to come down, because as clear as it may look there’s still tons of work to be done.”
Kevin Pannell works for Team Rubicon, he said, “The peak has definitely gone down.”
“(It’s) Not that unusual, the volunteer fatigue, but it’s not what we need.”
Despite the reasons why, Pannell knows help is needed, “There are no amount of volunteers we can’t use.”
“You’ll go home at the end of the day beat up tired, and feeling really good about what you’ve done.”
Team Rubicon will be leaving Faulkner County at the end of May. The local organization, Arkansas Dream Center will take over volunteer organization.
Team Rubicon organizes the volunteer efforts in Faulkner County. A spokesman said the weekend after a deadly EF-4 tornado hit Faulkner County, around 4,600 people showed up to lend a helping hand, but this week the numbers have fallen off. At quitting time on Wednesday, only about 12 people were volunteering.
Jeff Rottluff is a college student from Missouri helping victims, he said, “It’s nice to be able to just come down and give a helping hand.”
“Just putting these people’s lives back together and that’s really why we are down here, so that’s our primary goal.”
Jeff was one of the few giving back this week, but he hoped he and his fellow classmates were an inspiration for others to help.
“I just hope we are encouragement for other groups to continue to come down, because as clear as it may look there’s still tons of work to be done.”
Kevin Pannell works for Team Rubicon, he said, “The peak has definitely gone down.”
“(It’s) Not that unusual, the volunteer fatigue, but it’s not what we need.”
Despite the reasons why, Pannell knows help is needed, “There are no amount of volunteers we can’t use.”
“You’ll go home at the end of the day beat up tired, and feeling really good about what you’ve done.”
Team Rubicon will be leaving Faulkner County at the end of May. The local organization, Arkansas Dream Center will take over volunteer organization.