Tuesday, Jul. 19 2011 6:30PM

Restoring Faith

Joplin youth keep charitable promise in LS

By John Beaudoin, jbeaudoin@lsjournal.com

Julie Schiedegger, the Journal

St. Peter's Middle School student Rachel Peterson, 14, Joplin, puts out clothes on the sales floor at Uptown Resale, Lee's Summit. She and 11 other students volunteered at the Catholic Charities shop not even two months after the EF5 tornado hit their hometown. Ten of the 12 children lost their homes in the storm. 7.13.11 Julie Scheidegger

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Adults looking for proof that there is an ounce of humanity and charity left in today’s youth should look no further than the dozen teenagers who spent last week in Lee’s Summit.

Seven weeks after an EF5 tornado ruined much of the southwest Missouri town of Joplin, 12 students from St. Peter’s Middle School packed up, put their shock, dismay and sadness behind them – if only for a few days – and headed up U.S 71 Highway to fulfill their promise to Catholic Charities.

The volunteer group helped out at Uptown Resale, a Lee’s Summit thrift store run by Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph as part of the Just 5 Days program, a course that encourages middle school students to work and interact with people in need and recognize their call to serve.

Arguably, ironically, these 12 were on the other end of that spectrum not long ago.

Ten of the 12 middle school volunteers lost their homes and a large portion of their belongings in the May 22 Joplin tornado.

Not surprisingly, making the volunteer trip – scheduled back in March – to Lee’s Summit was the last thing on their collective minds in late May. But as the outing neared, they all had a decision to make.

And all opted to fulfill their promise to help.

“We still have our families and insurance will cover much of what we need,” St. Peter’s religion teacher Annette Peterson said. “The people that benefit from this place have far more needs than we can imagine.”

The teenagers spent part of the week stocking the store, pricing merchandise, loading and unloading boxes and making sure the products were in clean and working order.

All the while, Uptown Resale store manager Teresa Fuenfhausen was beaming with pride. “This sends a strong message,” she said, “that they would still make this trip after all they have been through.” Each of the 12 has a tight bond, one that forms through tragedy and triumph; through volunteerism and faith.

Rachel and Emily

The two 14-year old friends precisely remember the moment they spotted each other outside their tornado-ravaged homes. It seemed like slow motion as they ran toward one another, shaking, crying and, eventually, hugging.

Once their families and pets were accounted for, the best friends had to find one another.

It’s a moment they still recall, weeks later, during a volunteer trip to Lee’s Summit.

Rachel Peterson, daughter of Annette, was at a piano recital when the skies turned ominous.

The sirens, warnings and constant weather updates have always unnerved Rachel. And this day was no different.

“I have always been paranoid, just scared of tornados,” she admitted.

Once the phone lines and Internet connection went out, those fears began to surface. From the vantage point of the hill her family lived on, Rachel could see everything.

“I didn’t even know what to think,” she said.

Just down the road, Emily Hughey and her father were on their way home at the behest of her mom, who saw the malicious weather approaching. “I wasn’t freaking out, but the way the local weather lady’s voice sounded, that scared us,” Emily recalls. “We all went into the basement bathroom.” With family and all three dogs in tow, all hell broke loose as the windows began to shatter and the basement ceiling began to drip from the pouring rain above, which had made its way in after the tornado ripped off sections of the Hughey family home roof. The sounds of the destruction and torment were all around them.

“Honestly, it was hard to hear the tornado with the glass shattering and my sobbing,” Emily said, allowing a smile to creep across her face. “When it was over, my mom was keeping me downstairs and my dad was already outside.

“There were downed power lines in the front and back of the house.” Both recall scores of dogs roaming the damaged neighborhood. When she finally did head outside, Emily spotted Rachel.

“We were just in a dead sprint to each other,” Emily said.

Emily’s dad and brother stayed in the house that night to ward off any looters while Emily and her mom slowly made their way through and out of town to stay at a relative’s home.

In the aftermath and flood of support and supplies to Joplin, the girls noticed Catholic Charities on the scene, offering help and assistance. “So this is kind of a big circle, us helping up here,” Rachel said.

Katie and Haley

One lost their home during the severe weather outbreak. One did not.

Both, however, have learned an enormous about life and giving during the process.

Haley Sloan’s house was one of many destroyed in the twister.

Haley moved from her upstairs bedroom to the basement when the alarms sounded, some 15-20 minutes before the tornado struck. “I was texting Katie and dad had the radar going,” Haley recalled. “Someone had seen a funnel cloud at the Riverton Power Plant. “All of the sudden, my ears started popping. My dad kind of freaked out.”

Haley’s mom and dad made it to the basement just in time. As the sliding door clicked, Haley remembers the lights going out and the roaring began. All the windows upstairs were imploding and chunks of roof and home were being whisked away in the winds. Her family protected themselves with bean bags.

“My mom went upstairs and said the neighborhood was hit pretty bad,” Haley said.

The rest of the night was filled with chaos.

A triage center was set up in Haley’s neighborhood. Haley sent Katie a simple text. “Our house got hit.”

The tornado missed Katie Carr’s house by a mile, but the pain and suffering was all around her.

Will Norton, who lost his life after he was pulled out of his car through his sunroof, was found in a pond in Haley’s neighborhood. And Katie’s family friends Harley Howard, her little brother and father were in the Home Depot when the walls collapsed, killing all three. Like many of the families in Joplin, the flow of information was slow, stalled in fact, in the aftermath of the tornado. Katie’s father, who lives in Oklahoma, had no idea how she and her mom were doing.

“My brother was frantic trying to get a hold of me,” Katie said. “My mom and I drove around to check on some of our friends. They wouldn’t come back with us because of the looting.

“You see this stuff on the news and you almost can’t believe what you are seeing.”

Following the destruction came the flood of people – and more storms – into Joplin.

“There were no stop lights, no trees. I remember thinking ‘This is not right,’” Haley said.

It wasn’t, but this was their new reality.

And each was forced to deal with the storm, the sights and smells of the damage, the stories and the sheer volume of obliteration in a different way. Fulfilling their promise in Lee’s Summit was one way to do just that.

“Maybe we will discover something about ourselves,” Katie said. “This experience changes you.”

Because, for at least a week, each was able to leave Joplin – the missing trees, piles of homes and constant reminders of the storm – and do something bigger than they were.

“It inspires people to see kids our age volunteering,” Rachel said.

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