Union College team helps over 20 Iowa families hit by derecho

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Some are calling a group of Union College students, hero’s, after they decided to head up to Iowa to help victims of the recent Derecho.

The group of 23 undergraduate students, plus one graduate and two staff members, are members of the Union College International Rescue and Relief Program; so when the 100 mph winds ravaged parts of eastern Iowa, they knew how to help.

The Union College team helped one farmer in his 80’s who had lost four of his five outbuildings. He was told it would cost 20,000 dollars to remove the damaged properties- the Union College team did it for free.

Tama Councilman Matthew Beatty commented, “When you have a group like this come in, that really takes a lot of stress off of people and there’s help to get them back to some kind of normal here.”

City leaders say this is what living in the Midwest is all about, helping your neighbor.

The team has helped remove several tons of tree limbs and other debris, helping save some homeowners more than 300,000 dollars in removal costs. So far, they have lent a hand to more than affected 20 families and are expected back in Lincoln Sunday.

If you are interested in donating to the Union College IRR Disaster Response Fund, head on over to the college’s website. Select “International Rescue and Relief Disaster Response” for the designation.