Marengo was a quiet community nestled in the gentle hills and limestone formations of southern Indiana. On Sunday, May 30, at 3:00 p.m., an F3 tornado slammed through the town and Marengo was forever changed.

Over 50 homes were destroyed in the town of about 800 residents, and nearly 100 homes were severely impacted. In all, about 80% of the town residents were affected. The tornado claimed the life of one man, 83-year-old Robert Laswell, when the tornado picked up his trailer on Murphy Street and flipped it onto its roof.

Hearing reports about the Marengo tornado and others that occurred, the Indiana Adventist Disaster Response Team of volunteers wanted to help. The big decision was where do we go? Who needs us the most? Since Marengo is located in one of the poorest counties in Indiana, we decided they would need our help the most.

Our disaster team arrived ready to work and found a lot of activity already taking place. The team was asked to coordinate distribution of donated goods, an area we specialize in. We received permission from the school district to use the Marengo elementary school for this purpose. We started with the cafeteria room as a distribution center, and later were given four additional rooms to use as a warehouse. As semi-trucks arrived filled with new and much-needed donated items, these were unloaded.

When we arrived in the town of Marengo, hardly anyone knew anything about the Adventist Church and its mission. That soon changed. The team, wearing bright yellow shirts and photo identification name badges, were soon easily recognized and appreciated.

A young mother came in to get supplies several times and we visited together. On one occasion she said, "You just don't how much this helps," and threw her arms around me. We were helping in this wide-open mission field.

One Sabbath Judy O'Bannon, wife of former Governor Frank O'Bannon, visited with us. She seemed to have knowledge of our program and toured our warehouse and distribution center. She gave us lovely compliments about our work for the residents of Marengo.

A Federal Emergency Management Agency representative came by as we were packing to go home and she remarked, "I have watched you work to help the people and it has been wonderful." She added, "There is an Adventist church not far from where I live; when I get home I'm going to make a donation to them."

The team was able to help 746 individuals during our 18-day stay. We were assisted by 259 volunteers, including 49 Adventists. The total number of hours donated by our organization was 1,715.

Jose Vazquez, Indiana Conference community service director, along with Clarence and Katheryn Ratliff, Indiana Conference disaster response coordinators, would like to thank Union and Conference leadership for their support, and each of the volunteers who gave so much to make the world a little brighter for Marengo residents.

Katheryn Ratliff is the Indiana Conference disaster response coordinator