Tennessee Federation News December 2002 page 13

The below message is from Marjory Jones, President of GFWC Brentwood Woman's Club. By reading Marjory's message, you can find a pretty complete list of things you might do to help those tornado victims in Morgan County. This is a first hand account from one of our own so you can count on it to be reliable. I would like very much to be able for some of us to go there for "hands on help" if we could be of help in that way. Please let me know if you would be interested.
My thanks to you in advance for always being there when needed. You are truly "hearts in unity, beating for others".
Love, Lana -

---- Original Message -----

From: Marjory A. Jones To: Dearly Beloveds Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 11:00 AM Subject: Re: GFWC of TN -Tornados

Lana,
Yesterday a group of women from Brentwood Woman’s Club made our annual Fall trip to the Unicorn Shop in Wartburg to deliver our donations. Our excursion had been scheduled for several weeks and, due to the wrath of the weekend tornados, couldn’t have been more timely. We contacted Shelby Melhorn, asked what the immediate needs were for Unicorn, and proceeded with our plans. The Unicorn Shop itself is structurally unscathed from the storm. The tornado struck just south of Wartburg at Mossy Grove. We drove through this area as we drove up Highway 27 toward Wartburg from the interstate. We were deeply moved by what we saw. The devastation is heartbreaking. Clean-up crews were sawing trees and loading logs onto large flatbed trucks. Linemen were repairing electrical and phone lines. Residents were seen searching the ruins of their homes. One area that appeared to be an open field was actually the land on which several homes had once stood. All the homes were completely obliterated by the storm.

Once we arrived at Wartburg and were unloading our supplies, a county volunteer came by the Unicorn Shop looking for some bottled water for the linemen restoring power to the area. Fortunately we had brought 100 bottles with us and loaded them immediately into her vehicle for distribution. Shelby had told us that the Unicorn’s food pantry was bare after giving it to the county’s relief efforts on Monday. In addition to water, other immediate area needs are diapers (we took 400 to their local distribution center), cleaning supplies, paper products (paper towels and toilet paper), and non-perishable food. Yesterday the area was also in short supply of the oil needed for operating the chainsaws. Local gas stations were donating gasoline. Unicorn itself needs men’s clothing, bedding, linens, and items to re-stock their food pantry (water, canned goods, and other non-perishable food). Monetary donations would also be helpful. They can be spent on needed items.

Shelby insisted on touring us through some other nearby areas hit by the tornado. All that was left of one home was a closet with the clothes still hanging inside. In many areas there were undamaged homes sitting next to homes completely demolished by tornado.
Shelby took us out to her farm to view her newly created family cemetery. It is located on the site of her mother’s garden, and both her daughter (Patti, in whose memory Unicorn was started) and her husband are now buried there. Shelby is truly a beautiful and caring woman, and we always value our visits with her. We thank GFWC of Tennessee for bringing the Unicorn Project to our attention.