Brian: Many know about the tornado that leveled Greensburg, Kansas in May
of this year.
What you might not know is, the tornado was two-miles long, and
traveled over 20 miles, with 234 mph winds.
It was also the first EF-5 recorded since the May 3rd tornado that swept through
Moore, Oklahoma in 1999.
Now, six months later, the clean up continues in Greensburg.
Thanks to one Oklahoma FFA group, and some creative thinking, Greensburg will
begin to grow again.
Brian: What do you do with a surplus of redbud trees that have overgrown your
flower bed?
Well, you find a good home for them.
Pat McGriff: As I was taking care of the flower beds, I saw all these
little trees coming up, and I thought, I cannot throw these away.
Brian: Pat McGriff from Waurika, Oklahoma, is a retired school teacher,
and volunteers her time to keep the school grounds looking nice.
McGriff: I just knew that we would find a place for the trees, so I worked
around them.
They looked pretty shaggy.
People were wondering why the flower beds didn't look as good as they
usually did, but I never dreamed that the trees
would get this big this fast.
Brian: And after a little over a year, the trees became the main focus of a
community service project for the Waurika FFA.
Chris Kidd: We heard about a community in Kansas, Greensburg, Kansas, that
had gotten blown away by a tornado last Spring.
And we thought what a better way, than instead of throwing these redbuds
away give them to Greensburg, Kansas, and to the community up there.
Brian: FFA instructor, Chris Kidd, says the opportunity allows his
students to learn something that can't be captured in just any
school book.
Kidd: Something I am trying to instill in the members of Waurika FFA is
service, and that leadership is action, not
just a position; but it's action.
Brian: Something FFA'ers were doing plenty of on this cold dreary
Fall afternoon; sophomore, Tanner Eld.
Tanner Eld: We are not doing it for fame or for people to look at us and
say they are good people.
We are doing it because, well, that is what Waurika FFA does, we help others.
Brian: Sophomore, Jace Dunn, who worked the majority of the day, is
excited about one tree in particular.
Jace Dunn: Mrs McGriff braided this tree when it was really young, and
we're wanting this tree to go from our school to their school.
Brian: Hoping to make a connection that will last a lifetime, as they load
up to take a trip that will give some Waurika students a new perspective
on how devastating tornadoes can really be.
Brian: These grain bins behind me were one of the few structures left after
the tornado swept through Greensburg, Kansas, leaving literally the
entire city in ruins.
Now Waurika FFA hopes to bring in new hope and re-growth for a community
that is desperately trying to rebuild.
Lane Allison: We only have, maybe, half the population right now.
Brian: These 4-H'ers met the FFA group when they came to town, and gave
their accounts of what it is like in Greensburg now.
Brian: You were saying your house is right over there where that shed is?
Katlin Senst: Yes.
Brian: Were you guys in it?
Senst: My mom was the only one home, and she was okay.
Brian: Really, so it just leveled your house?
Senst: Yep, we had the plywood on top of the basement was there, but
everything on top of it was gone.
Lindey McKinney: We are still in Coldwater, but we should be back into our
new house in a couple of weeks, so it's exciting.
Brian: Exciting because, only a hand full are fortunate to have new
houses built, even though it has been six months since the tornado swept
through Greensburg.
Darin Headrick: It will take a while for the town to re-grow and for us to
get our population back.
But, three, four, five years down the road, we hope to be recovered and
look a lot better than we do now.
Brian: Darin Headrick is the superintendent of the Greensburg public schools
and says since the tornado, attendance is down by 75 percent; but
because of generous donations like these trees, it takes some of
the burden off of the rebuilding process.
Headrick: All the donations are nice.
We've had help from all over the country.
And obviously this donation from the FFA kids down in Oklahoma just
strengthens what we have going on.
I mean, a whole bunch of trees, some flowers, and if you look around you
will notice that not only were all of our homes devastated and our offices
our business and our schools; but, you know, all the trees, all the
grass, all the plant life were just hammered just as well.
The two trees bonded together mean that with us being together that we'll
grow stronger in strength and everything.
Brian: And the tree Jace Dunn and Mrs McGriff saved for the school immediately
created a special bond between the two communities; Kiowa county
extension agent, Carmen Stauth.
Carmen Stauth: They're taking that caring spirit and stretching that across
not only city or county lines, they are stretching it between two states.
And I thought it was very appropriate that the FFA ladies that presented the
tree to the school, they talked about how they intertwined the two
schools permanently by presenting that
intertwined tree to represent that.
Brian: While also gaining a deeper appreciation about what it means to
give back, by delivering the trees first hand.
Jake Boren: Well it feels like we are doing something.
I mean, because a lot of times in FFA, I guess, I mean it is my first year
in FFA actually, but in a lot of organizations, you don't feel like you are
actually doing something.
And I guess this gives us an opportunity to feel like we are giving back to
a community, especially one that is not ours.
And it's so far away.
You would never think of, we are going to Kansas to give them trees.
It's definitely been a blessing for me to do this, and it's something I
will never forget.
Brian: As a new bond has been formed by an act of generosity and a few
saplings ready to be planted.
Greensburg, Kansas, and Waurkia FFA, growing together!