Naperville neighbors aim to repair homes hit by 2021 tornado

With the support of a local nonprofit, the women of Naperville on a mission to help their neighbors recover from the 2021 EF-3 tornado will raise $1.5 million over the next five months to I will try to clean up the garden where there is still rubble. storm.

Days after the June 20, 2021 tornado, a group of mothers known as Ranch View Area Community Assistance created a Facebook page to cut through the bureaucracy and connect neighbors in need with would-be volunteers. I was.

Now the group is trying to fill the gap not covered by insurance by offering grants to help homeowners clean up their yards of wood, metal and glass debris buried by tornadoes.

At a city council meeting in September, the group’s co-founder Christy Kennedy asked for help finding nonprofit partners. This allows them to win grants and let donors know that the group is acting responsibly with the money they raise for Naperville residents.

Shortly after her appeal, Kennedy was linked to the Naperville-based MP Foundation. This non-profit organization aims to help parents, teachers, and community leaders make positive changes in children’s lives.

Founded by Asuttosh Rajkumar and his mother, Selvei Rajkumar, the foundation is named after Asuttosh’s two great-grandfathers, Muthusami Gounder and Paravel Gounder.

Selvay Rajkumar, a Naperville resident who, with her husband, owns an early childhood education KLA school in Naperville and Plainfield, said she saw Kennedy’s appeal at a conference and called Mayor Steve Kiriko to ask if she was a good fit. rice field.

“They couldn’t find a nonprofit to help them. I wanted to help,” says Rajkumar, who sees her role as a facilitator with website design expertise. Told.

“I’m really happy to see Christy and the other volunteers dedicating their time to helping residents in need,” she said.

The newly renamed Naperville Tornado Relief and its website allow people to donate money and services and see where their money goes.

President Kennedy said his goal is to raise $1.5 million by March to help Naperville residents with a garden improvement project next summer. She said her hopes would be put together by this time next year.

Several events are already underway, including a “Quarter for a cause” drive hosted by the Ranch View Elementary School Student Council.

Kennedy said Naperville Central High School’s Rowdies are also planning to raise money for a cross-town sporting event against Naperville North.

More importantly, Kennedy said a partnership with the MP Foundation will allow Naperville Tornado Relief to submit a grant application.

Kennedy said the top priority for the funds raised would be to replace yards for the 31 families whose homes were declared uninhabitable or for direct neighbors whose yards were covered in debris.

Residents say their gardens are full of hazardous materials and they cannot let children or pets use them without fear of injury.

Every time it rains, more and more toxic substances come to the surface while they go through and pick up the debris.

President Kennedy said there is no way to completely remove a yard of hazardous scrap without sieving the topsoil, so he plans to remove the top two inches of contaminated soil, dispose of it, and replace it with clean soil. I was.

She said that depending on the cost, she would either sow the lawn or sow the grass.

Kennedy added that up to 70 homes could be available to fund the garden replacement.

Other funds will be made available to replace landscaping not covered by insurance, such as bushes, trees and other plants lost in the disaster.

The final initiative, Kennedy said, is aimed at residents living on the edge of destructed areas who have probably only lost a few trees or experienced damage not worth an insurance claim.

She said that beauty gold could be used to increase happiness.

subaker@tribpub.com