Indian Lake Tornado Relief Fund

Relief Fund

CLICK HERE TO GIVE TO THE INDIAN LAKE TORNADO RELIEF FUND

At 7:44 PM on Thursday March 14, an EF3 tornado ripped through the Indian Lake region, killing three people, destroying over 300 homes, and causing widespread damage to over 1,000 properties and businesses. 

The following morning, the United Way Board met in emergency session and established the Indian Lake Tornado Relief Fund with the goal of supporting immediate and long-term recovery efforts, with an emphasis to be placed on identifying and fulfilling unmet needs.  100 percent of all donations to the Relief Fund will go directly to this purpose.  

As of 4PM on Thursday April 25, $1,402,567 has been pledged. In addition, United Way provided $100,000 to be used in a 1st phase of funding for agencies directly involved in providing immediate response, taking the fund to $1,502,567. 

Donor Recognition Page

Many other groups have completed or will be conducting fundraisers for the Indian Lake Tornado Relief Fund.  They include the following:

Ongoing - Anchored in Hope T-shirts / Sweatshirts.  100% of profits go to Relief Fund
Ongoing - Pathways Financial Credit Union Matching Fundraiser
Friday March 15 - McCarthy & Cox Matching Challenge raises over $10,000
Wednesday March 20 - American Society of Ephesus donates $25,000
Thursday March 21 - Honda pledges for Tornado Relief
Thursday March 21 - Holland Theatre Benefit Concert raises more than $50,000
Tuesday March 26 - Texas Roadhouse locations raise $54,600 in "Dine to Donate"
Saturday April 6 - Logan County Farm Bureau - Reverse Raffle
Monday April 8 - Hi Road Drive-In Theatre - Eclipse at the Drive-In
Saturday April 27 - Indian Lake Rebuild Ride - Harley Davidson Lima to Desperados in Huntsville
Friday May 17 - 33 West Productions - Chris Janson Concert in Lima

E-mail your events / fundraisers to dave@uwlogan.org and we'll add them to this page.
 

USE OF THE FUNDS COLLECTED

PHASE 2 FUNDING

Since Wednesday April 10, our team of case workers has met with 279 households who made appointments for assistance through the Tornado Relief Fund.

  • $549,808.49 has been distributed to help 224 households (522 tornado victims).
  • 55 cases are in process, awaiting decisions or verifications from applicants.
  • 76 additional households have appointments already scheduled.

If you or someone you know needs help, make your appointment today by calling United Way at (937) 592-2886.

Here is the breakdown in how tornado victims are choosing to use their United Way help:

  • 114 Home Insurance Deductibles - $165,253.86
  • 74 Home Repairs - $141,014.13
  • 49 Rents for new or existing homes - $49,280.91
  • 28 Security Deposits for new homes - $45,484.00
  • 20 Down payments for New Autos - $32,486.53
  • 20 Auto Repairs - $30,452.40
  • 32 Auto Insurance Deductibles - $25,438.15
  • 20 Auto Loan payments - $15,404.55
  • 21 Mortgage payments - $13,688.73
  • 13 Hotel Stays - $9,982.17
  • 13 Utility Bills - $3,764.34
  • 5 Student / Youth Participation Fees - $1,117.46
  • 6 Pet Cares - $1,100.38
  • 3 Prescription Medications - $617.50
  • 29 Other items, such as storage, moving expenses, generators, etc. - $13,723.38

Tornado victims from each affected neighborhood and leaders from the Indian Lake community met on April 3 to determine the criteria for how the Relief Funds would be spent.  

"On behalf of the Indian Lake Tornado Relief Committee, we thank all the outside donors for your support to create this opportunity," said Brenda Moots, owner of Indian Lake Outfitters & The Depot in Lakeview.  "Our goal is to assist as many families as possible with full transparency, representation, and immediate need to our Indian Lake area residents.  We know this isn’t a fix all answer to everyone's situation. It won’t completely address the large number of displaced families or their wide spread needs. But it is certainly a good start that offers hope and assists with more immediate need while the community works through avenues of other funding possibilities."

Committee members include:

  • Dave Coburn – Indian Lake Schools
  • Pastor Jim Ellington – Indian Lake Community Church
  • Dale Frymeyer – Choice Properties Real Estate / Indian Lake Development Corporation
  • Suzanne Gillespie – Shoreline Construction
  • Cynthia Heffner – Logan County Department of Job & Family Services
  • Rachel Kubic – Hanna Howard Real Estate / Indian Lake Development Corporation
  • Scott Mohler – Lift Delivery
  • Brenda Moots – Indian Lake Outfitters
  • Amy Musil – LuLu’s at the Lake
  • Tim O’Rielley – CoverLink Insurance / United Way Allocations Chair
  • Rick Powers – NX Automotive Logistics / United Way Board Member
  • Katie Rychener – Unit-Ten / United Way Board Member
  • Corey VanHoose – CenterPoint Energy / United Way Board Member

Also present were

  • Dave Bezusko- United Way of Logan County
  • Ashley Spence – United Way of Logan County
  • Bobbi Jo Trittschuh – Honda

The committee authorized that 70 percent of the funds raised to date (up to $800,000) will be used in this second phase of support for tornado recovery, with the remaining funds set aside for a third phase of funding taking long-term needs into account this summer.   

PHASE 1 FUNDING
On March 15, the morning after the storm, the United Way Board issued up to $100,000 from its reserves to support a Phase 1 of funding for agencies providing immediate response to the disaster.  Funds were used or dispersed to the following:

  • Aries Pharmacy - $483.24 to cover cost of 21 prescriptions for seven tornado victims.
  • Liberty Roofing - $30,000 to provide roofing materials and repairs for six uninsured victims.
  • Logan County Board of Developmental Disabilities - have spent $8,315.66 of a $10,000 allocation to cover basic needs of nine of their affected clients with developmental disabilities.
  • Logan County Cancer Society - $2,574.60 to cover cost of lost medication / supplies for cancer patients.
  • Mary Rutan Foundation - $9,337.78 - to purchase and deliver generators for use in the immediate aftermath in the Indian Lake region. 
  • Mary Rutan Foundation - $2,839.58 to cover cost of prescription medication and copays for victims.
  • Peak of Hope Homeless Shelter - have spent $16,764.65 of a $25,000 allocation for temporary hotel stays for 30 medically fragile victims unable to utilize community emergency shelters.
  • RTC Services - $1,715.38 to provide 45 free rides of transportation for victims who lost their cars.  
  • TCN Behavioral Health - $5,000 to cover basic needs for their affected mental health clients.
  • United Way - $1,636.16 - to purchase equipment and supplies to set up two Multi-Agency Resource Centers in Lakeview and Russells Point.
  • United Way - $300 - Gas cards for generators.
  • United Way - $233.81 - to rent and deliver portable storage units to downtown Lakeview.
  • United Way - $139.41 - a floodlight for a materials distribution point in downtown Lakeview.

CLICK HERE TO GIVE TO THE INDIAN LAKE TORNADO RELIEF FUND

Gifts can also be made via mail to:
United Way of Logan County
Indian Lake Tornado Relief Fund
653 S. Main St.
Bellefontaine, Ohio 43311

Call Dave or Becca at (937) 592-2886 for more information.