PENDLETON — Virtually everywhere you went in Pendleton in the days following the May 27 tornado, people were helping people — neighbors helping neighbors, residents helping fellow residents, and in many cases, people from out of town helping wherever they were needed, seizing the opportunity to ease the burden of recovering from a natural disaster.
“I got here this morning,” Kent Sechler of Elwood said Thursday morning. “I just wanted to help. Pendleton’s a nice town; I’ve always enjoyed it.”
Sechler was one of the approximately 400 people who signed in at the Volunteer Reception Center set up by Madison County Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency at Pendleton Christian Church.
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He was also part of a group of about a dozen assigned to help clean up an area in the 300 block of South Adams Street on Thursday, May 30. Their task was to cut up and haul downed trees, limbs and other debris to the street for disposal by town work crews.
Friends Ben Kane, Renee Lefeld and Tyler Bradfield, all sporting Ball State University shirts, were part of the group, as was Mike McCrary, who was with six fellow employees of Banning Engineering, a Plainfield firm he said has worked on projects with the Town of Pendleton.
The reason he and co-workers came out was the same as the one Sechler and others gave throughout the week.
“We thought we’d come out here and help clean up a bit,” McCrary said, noting that another group from Banning was set to help Friday.
McCrary said it wasn’t discussed how the company was handling the day away from the office, but he, for one, said he’d prefer not to be compensated for his time.
“I know I don’t want to get paid for today or tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t want to cost the company, and I’d rather volunteer than get paid to do it.”
Homeowner Kelly Harris, who lives on South Adams Street, said she appreciated the work people were doing to help her out.
“I’m so grateful for these people,” she said.