Joplin...hamb helping hands weekend getaway/BBQ

Joplin is my hometown. My mother still lives on 20th & Anniebaxter, my sister still lives on 22nd & Bird. (both missed the tornado by a mere block or two literally, thank goodness. that was my neighborhood growing up & now its gone its still surreal).My good friend friend Stan Boman now has the dumpster from the MCDonalds on 27th & Main in his yard with his house just shredded. Standing but condemned and missing a few rooms now. Heard firsthand several things I wont repeat to anyone ever about things loved ones I have went through or did or saw. And I realize that they are the "lucky" ones in all this. Some faired far worse,far,far worse.

THANK YOU for helping my hometown and my loved ones!!!

 

paulie, if they need a hand, get me in touch with them.

 

ATTN: if you helped with this effort in any way, by donations, care packages, auctions or the such please pm me with your address, i have, with the help of a few other hamb'ers have a special little gift for ya!

thanks to all that have help so far. i have some great stuff in the works.

 

alright guys, alittle up date.

I've made a connection with the Ozark center for autism, its a special center/school for kids with needs. they lost everything in the storm, building, supplies,special equipment, etc, everything.

these kids are used to a certain routine everyday, used to working with the same people, at the same location, with the same material. starting over is something that would be hard for most of us, but is almost unbearable for them.

my contact, said they are set up in a make shift location for now, in 4 months they get a temporary building that they will likely be in for 18-24 months, until they are able to rebuild at there location, they where next to the hospital. they are a non profit.

they are in need of some special items, to help the kids get back to some form of normalcy.

she said the biggest things need are digital camera, video recorder and i pads. all of the interactions must be record for insurance, and parent updates. all the kids material and work is done on i pads. amazing tool, if you think about it. most of the material is special programs they get threw i tunes, so itune gift cards would be help full also.

they can use any ipad. must have wi-fi, doesn't need 3g. can be a first gen also, if you have a used one.so if your thinking about upgrading, maybe now may be a worthy time? or i can go a buy them new ones.

pm me if you think you may be able to help in this new adventure.
we have talked about a lot of different possibilities, for the future also. she has a few kids that really into cars and mechanical things, so im goign to set up time every month or so to swing by with either my bike or hot rods/customs to share with the kids and hope to be able to sponsor a few into the hamb drags to be able to meet all of yous. we also spoke about maybe doing a little cruise to the site on the Friday before the drags or maybe even Sunday am before you all head home, so many possibilities!

 

bttt

 

Ryno, you are an amazing person and have a heart of gold man. Sorry I haven't been on the site much lately to update you guys on my personal situation but we're just taking everything day by day. You have no idea how much I appreciate the offers from all of you guys who were willing to offer everything from a place to crash to financial help getting across the country. We've already gathered up all of my fathers belongings and brought them back to Texas. I had family members come from as far as Florida to volunteer. Its really an amazing sight if you haven't seen it.

In any disaster there are always people who try to scam victims and capitalize on a ****ty situation. For any of you who were affected by the storm PLEASE be aware of who you are giving your information to, especially in regards to the clean-up effort. One of my longtime family friends was nearly taken for a lot of money. Luckily she and her husband had the foresight to double check the persons credentials and it paid off. Long story short, they caught and arrested the person which turned up a number of other scammers in the area.

Thanks again, from the bottom of my heart. It's totally inspiring to know there are such a large group of virtual strangers who are willing to offer their time and money to help people in need.

 

im glad you where able to get that taken care of.again if you need a help in anything, give me a shout!

the town is over run with fly by night contractors right now, so it doesn't surprise me that your family was approached by some s*** bags. glad they didn't get taken advantage of.

thanks for the kind words, but im sure most people on this board would be doing the same thing if it was in there town, i just feel like if you can do something about it, do it!

 

bttt

ATTN: if you helped with this effort in any way, by donations, care packages, auctions or the such please pm me with your address, i have, with the help of a few other hamb'ers have a special little gift for ya!

thanks to all that have help so far. i have some great stuff in the works.

 

Damn my eyes are leaking again.

I'd be really into this. Please try to arrange something in the afternoon of that Friday perhaps leaving from the host hotel and cruzn over before school gets out.

When I think about heros I don't think about singers or athletes, I think about guys like Ryno and the rest that have dedicated their summer months to helping out those in need. The example Ryno is setting for his two young boys is PRICELESS!

 

Well said Denise! I look forward to shaking the man's hand in August.

 

Scammers? Take pix of the contractor/truck/car plate and faces of these people. Legit ones have nothing to hide. Good work again to all you folks that keep on giving in some way to this cause.

 

thanks for the kind words doll, but im only a hero/legend, in my own mind! im only doing what many of you guys and gals would be doing if faced with the same issues.

im meeting with the Ozark center Monday am, and presenting them a new ipad2, hope to be able to get them some more soon!

ill see what they have going on on Friday before the drags, and teh possibility of us cruising over to meet the kids.

this area is filled with fly by night shadiness right now. we have some kind of government agency in pick ups right now that i have seen pulling over all the debris trucks, and issuing them tickets for not having correct docs, and or overloading, or worse, stealing stuff.

 

update...
meet up with the center today and presented them with ipad2. i got to meet the staff and the kiddos. they asked me to bring my bike today to share with the kids, it was pretty gloomy outside when i opened the shop to roll out, but figured i cant not show the kids what they where promised, so i motored on! only had a few small drops on the ride over.

we brought the kids out and i let them crawl/sit on the bike and showed the more interested ones all the controls and features, they where supper pumped.

we are going to plan out a cruise over to the center on the Friday before the HAMB drags, which is the 19th of aug at 2:30-3:00. the center is currently housed in the bridge facilities, right next to the host hotel, so id be supper appreciative and im sure the kids would be also if most you guys could attend this. im making this at 230-3 so we can still hit the Springfield swap meet in the am, and wish the kids off for school that day, they get out at 3.



this is Dakota.
he does not talk.he is 10 years old and communicates by using the ipad, pretty amazing.while i was there they taught him how to tell them he wants to get some water.
he's into all things mechanical




click on the pic to watch the video.


a video of him telling them he wants water, they only showed him the way to do this 1 time before this video.


this is joey
hes 8
really enjoyed sitting ion the bike and was way into seeing himself in the reflection on the tank.




the other kids.





she dug wearing my helmet.

 

You are a RULER!

 

Again I tip my hat to you brother.

God Bless you and all.

 

So awesome man... Thank you for the update!

I'll be sure to be in town by 2:30 on Friday, the 19th.

 

thanks for the kind words guys...
hoping to be able to do more for them, plan on meeting with them every month and bringing a different car or something cool for them to check out, also trying to source out more ipads if anyone has any ideas? they need about 8-10 more!

 

Will help. Keep us posted. PM if you need to.

 

What are you looking to do?

 

man ryno, of all the things and time you have helped with, going to show those kids your bike is so cool. I can only imagine how happy you made them and the ideas that ran through all their heads about cars and bikes and just plain cool stuff. Awesome man

Brad

 

alright guys we are all set for the visit to the Ozark center on Friday the 19th at 2:30. the center is set up at the bridge, which is right next door to the hotel. since they are graciously being given a facility to operate out of we need to be courteous to the others in the building, so they asked if we could only send 10-15 cars at a time. if you'd like to stop and interact with the kids, please do so, but keep in mind these kids are not used to nice cars and don't know any better, so basically if your car is so nice please don't stop if your going to stress. they are dismissed at 3o.

im going to the Springfield swap meet and will be back in time, but if someone that is not going to the swap meet would like to ***ist me in this adventure, please pm me and we'll gather a game plan!

i also got the updated wish list that ill post below in another post, it keeps wiping out my type when i post it in this body.if you get a moment checkout the timer link, another pretty amazing device to help those that need it.im hoping to get them another i-pad this week and make another visit!

 

.......

 

Immediate Needs Wish List
Updated 7/11/11

1. 30 MotivAiders (silent timers) – http://www.difflearn.com/product/MotivAider/timers_counters_clocks
2. 10 iPads (32 GB or greater with WiFi capability)
3. 10 OtterBox Defender Series Hybrid Case for iPads
4. Video camera
5. SmartBoard with projector
6. Laptop for SmartBoard
7. Computer, Leap Frog, and/or Letter Factory toys and games
8. Camera
9. Donations to the Ozark Center for Autism Scholarship Fund
10. Donations to ***ist with rebuilding efforts





To support Ozark Center for Autism, our children, and families, please make a gift to:

Ozark Center for Autism
Attention: Heather Collier
PO Box 2526
Joplin, MO 64803

 

alittle update....

blacktopbudda (bill) and my self made a visit last week to the center to present them with a check from the hamb drags auction.

bill presenting the director with a nice size check to help with scholarships,supplies or tools needed to help advance these kids education.


they are currently still set up in the bridge facility, which is right next door tot the host hotel for the drags, they will be relocating in about 4 weeks, to another temporary facility, this one for 18-24 months, in which time hopefully their new building will be finished!

it has been a difficult time getting the kids to adjust to the temporary settings, an open room doesn't help with the attention span. they tried to get some par***ions and it helped, but being a temp site no modifications where allowed.




this is Dakota again
here he is using one of the few i pads we where able to buy them.this is his only way to communicate with the world! amazing!




after getting his lessons right , he gets some bounce time!

 

Video camera? We bought one brand new a few years ago. Never used it. It's not the latest, or greatest, but the price would be right.

 

ill check to see if its still needed!

 

Warms my heart to see the update. Thanks!

 

Just saw this story on one of the Joplin Tornado hero/victims going through some tough times.

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — By all accounts, Mark Lindquist is a hero, an underpaid social worker who nearly gave his life trying to save three developmentally disabled adults from the Joplin tornado. Both houses of the Missouri legislature honored Lindquist, the Senate resolution calling him "a true hero and inspiration to others."

But heroism doesn't pay the bills. The tornado's 200 mph winds tossed Lindquist nearly a block, broke every rib, obliterated his shoulder, knocked out most of his teeth and put him in a coma for about two months.

Lindquist, 51, ran up medical expenses that exceed $2.5 million, and the bills keep coming. He requires 11 daily prescriptions and will need more surgery. But he has no medical insurance. Lindquist couldn't afford it on a job paying barely above minimum wage. He ***umed workers' compensation would cover his bills, but his claim was denied "based on the fact that there was no greater risk than the general public at the time you were involved in the Joplin tornado," according to a letter to Lindquist from Accident Fund Insurance Company of America, his company's workers' comp provider.

That reasoning has angered Lindquist's family, employer, even lawmakers.
"I think they need to take another look at the cir***stances and revisit the claim," state Rep. Bill Lant, R-Joplin, said. "What he did went beyond heroics."

Lindquist watched the skies darken on the evening of May 22 while on his way to the group home occupied by Mark Farmer, Rick Fox and Tripp Miller, three middle-aged men with Down syndrome. Soon after he arrived, a tornado siren began to blare.

Lindquist's employer, Community Support Services, had recently put workers through a tornado drill, so Lindquist and co-worker Ryan Tackett knew what to do. Because there was no ba*****t or shelter and the residents moved too slowly to relocate, Lindquist and Tackett placed mattresses over the men for protection, then climbed atop the mattresses for added weight.

It seemed like little more than a precaution until Lindquist heard the unmistakable roar of the twister. "I told Ryan, 'If you've ever prayed before, now is the time to do it,'" he said.

The EF-5 tornado was a**** the nation's worst ever. It destroyed more than 7,000 homes, including the group home, and killed 162 people.

A**** the dead were Farmer, Fox and Miller, a fact that still haunts Lindquist.

"I loved them almost as much as I love my own kid," he said.

Lindquist's survival defies logic. After the storm, rescuers found Lindquist buried in rubble, impaled by a piece of metal. Large chunks of flesh were torn off. Bones from his shoulder crumbled as they placed him on a door used as a makeshift stretcher. He was later delivered to Freeman Hospital.

Meanwhile, Lindquist's sister, Linda Lindquist Baldwin, his son, 12-year-old Creed, and other relatives contacted every hospital within 100 miles of Joplin searching for him. None of the unidentified matched Lindquist's description.

His injuries were so severe that his slender, athletic body had become swollen and unrecognizable. He was in a coma. Finally, after three days, he was identified by tiny brown flecks in his hazel eyes.

Doctors told Baldwin that if Lindquist survived, it likely would be in a vegetative state. Even in a best-case scenario, he likely would be blind in one eye, never regain use of his right arm, and never speak or think normally, she was told.

Things got worse. Debris that got into the open sores caused a fungal infection, one that killed five other Joplin tornado victims. Lindquist overcame the fungus but remained at Freeman until June 16. Still in a coma, he was flown to a hospital in Columbia for a little over a month before being sent to a rehab center in Mount Vernon where he awakened.

Lindquist's recovery amazed doctors. His right arm remains in a sling, but he has use of the hand. The eye that was temporarily blinded has full sight. He moves slowly and has short-term memory loss, but speaks well.

Baldwin said the insurance company's decision is unfathomable because if her brother hadn't been at work, he wouldn't have been hurt. He also could have jumped in his van and driven away from the group home as the tornado approached.

Lindquist said that thought never crossed his mind.

"I could have abandoned them to save myself, but I would never do that," he said.

Jahn Hurn, CEO of Community Support Services, said the agency has asked Accident Fund Insurance to reconsider Lindquist's case. Insurance company spokeswoman Stepheni Schlinker said she could not discuss an individual claim or whether the company would reconsider.

Lindquist also could seek relief through the Missouri Division of Workers Compensation but has not yet done so because he is weighing legal options and still dealing with health issues, Baldwin said.

Amy Susan, a spokeswoman for the division, said the state could help facilitate settlement talks with the insurance company, or Lindquist could ask an administrative law judge to hear the case. That judge would decide if the company should pay the claim.

Susan said that 132 workers' compensation claims were filed after the tornado. Only eight were denied by insurance companies.

Since word of Lindquist's plight spread, people around Joplin have pitched in, donating a few hundred dollars. Baldwin said her brother is touched by the kindness, even if it barely pays for the prescriptions, much less the medical costs.

Despite lingering pain, financial strain and uncertainty about whether he'll work again, Lindquist sees good things happening in his life.

Earlier this year, he was contacted by Carolyn Stephenson Mckinlay. They met 31 years ago in her Montana hometown, where he was helping to build a water tower. He was 21, she was 16. After a brief courtship they parted ways. Both married others, then divorced.

Mckinlay found Lindquist on Facebook earlier this year, and the two decided to meet in Joplin. The tornado hit first, but Mckinlay still came. He proposed in August, and they plan to wed.

All things considered, Lindquist said he's a lucky man.

"I'm a walking miracle," he said.

 

I just wanted to bump this up for the 3year anniversary of this horrible disaster.
It's chilling to look back at some of these pics, but also very warming from the awesome world wide support we where able to bring together to help the folks and mainly the kids.

Thanks to all that helped with this effort.

 

Thanks for the bump, Ryno. With Memorial Day coming up, the Joplin Tornado has been on my mind a lot lately. Have the 2013 HAMB Drags auction funds been donated yet? @blacktopbuddha


Malcolm