Parts of the Midwest may have been torn apart this weekend, but some students are going beyond the call of help to put the pieces back together.
Senior elementary education major Colby Tapling and a few other students started the “Bradley Students Supporting Washington, IL.” Facebook page on Sunday after the E-4 tornado was reported.
Tapling said the page serves as “an extra communication through social media between students and the university to find out ways to help out the victims of the tornado.”
“Almost all of our posts on the page are related to different volunteer or donation opportunities for students to get involved in when trying to help the town of Washington,” Tapling said.
The page, which has garnered more than 1,500 “likes” from Bradley students in the last week, has served as a jumping-off point for many students’ aims to help.
Posts with specific ways to help, like one about a Bradley student housing three victims and needing supplies, offer students a chance to help in more direct way than just donating money to large entities.
“The main goal of our pages is to make students aware of the various opportunities for them to aid in the rebuilding of Washington,” said Tapling. “Our goal is to provide the most up-to-date events for students as well as to continue keeping students involved in this process.”
The page’s admins also contacted The Fieldhouse and organized a donation night from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 22, where 10 percent of the night’s sales will be donated to the relief effort.
But Tapling said the page continues to grow.
“So far we have seen a huge response from the student body by reaching 1,000 likes within twelve hours, which was an awesome overwhelming amount of support,” Tapling said.
He also said other students are helping the effort by trying to plan new events through the page.
“People have messaged us and asked what ways they could help, or even [suggested] that if we have a larger event they would help out for free, such as bands and entertainers,” he said.
As the relief for tornado victims continue, the Bradley Student Support ing Washington, IL. page will continue to keep students updated, Tapling said.