Romeoville Church Collecting Items for Coal City/Diamond Tornado Victims

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Romeoville is serving as a collection site for supplies for victims of the tornado that ripped through the Coal City/Diamond area on Sunday.

Pastor Suzanne Anderson-Hurdle said the victims’ most pressing needs are for cleaning supplies, including bleach, gloves, buckets, sponges, garbage bags, mops and towels.

Residents can drop off cleaning supplies at Good Shepherd Church, 25 Alexander Circle, Romeoville, from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday or after 6:30 p.m.; from 9 a.m. to noon on Thursday; and from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday.

Another option: Anderson-Hurdle said residents can call (815) 886-4354 to arrange another drop-off time or to have someone come and pick up items.

“I’m the chaplain for the Romeoville police and fire departments,” Anderson-Hurdle said. “So, obviously, I have a connection with first-responders. And, then, it was about a year ago that I was in Breezy Point—Queens, New York—and my family and I helped the Point Breeze Fire Department organize supplies for hurricane victims at their fire house.

“We saw at that time—10 days post Hurricane Sandy—that the greatest need was for cleaning supplies and toiletry items as well as financial gifts to reputable organizations.”

Anderson-Hurdle said she will work with partners from the Lutheran Disaster Response team and fire department officials in Coal City and Diamond to coordinate delivery of items collected at Good Shepherd Church.

“My hope is we’ll find a good contact person and be able to make delivery this weekend,” Anderson-Hurdle said. “Then, we’ll continue to collect more items and take them down as needed at some point in the future.”

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