By Shannon Farr
Tribune-Review (Greensburg, PA)
Copyright 2007 Tribune Review Publishing Company
All Rights Reserved
GREENSBURG, Kan. — Greensburg Fire Department volunteers Bob Wright and Bob Rhody will be driving 19 hours straight, in a dump truck, to deliver supplies to the victims of the tornado that wiped out Greensburg, Kan.
"I think it's an amazing, generous gift and gesture," said Keith Campbell, a liaison for the Greensburg, Kan., administrative office. "It's really a spirit-lifter for our town."
Greensburg Salem School District and Greensburg Ministerium donated basic supplies such as plywood, hand tools, work gloves, chainsaws, a generator, rope and Red Cross boxes, said city administrator Sue Trout. The Red Cross kits hold bottled water, first-aid kits and other supplies.
Wright and Rhody will be greeted by Greensburg, Kan., Mayor Lonnie McCollum, city council members and volunteers who are trying to bring back the city that was leveled May 4.
The two men could not leave until Friday afternoon because the Kansas city needed time to clear massive debris just to make room for the dump truck to park, Trout said.
The truck will be donated to the victims by the Greater Greensburg Sewage Authority, said Gino Rizzi, authority manager.
Two more Greensburg firefighters, Shane Bettis and Charlie DiCriscio, will follow their fellow volunteers and bring them back to Pennsylvania in a utility truck.
All four are members of the department's swift-water rescue team, said Wright, and had participated in rescue and humanitarian operations before.
Wright, a sergeant with 22 years of firefighting experience, said Greensburg fire Chief Ed "Hutch" Hutchinson called him earlier this week and said, "What are you doing this weekend?"
"I said, 'What do you want me to do?' " Wright said. "He explained it to me, and I jumped on it right away."
He said seeing reports of the town's devastation, and the fact that the communities share a name, were good reasons to make the trip.
Wright had scheduled a day off yesterday from his job as a truck driver for Scott Electric Co. They'll be back late Sunday, he said, in time to return to work Monday morning.
"We're going to deliver the truck, give the proclamation and skedaddle," he said. "We'll tell them, 'Here's your truck, God bless you, hope to see you later.'
"It makes you feel better," he said of being involved with the delivery of the goods. "All of us on this trip are on the swift-water rescue team, and we all do trips like this. And 'Hutch' has a way of getting things done and influencing people to do things."
"The people in Kansas are so excited," Trout said. "They must have told me six times how grateful they were."
"They don't need clothing and food at this point. They would have nowhere to put it," said Rex Ferguson, vice president of the United Way of Westmoreland County. "They need money to build up there."
Greensburg, in conjunction with First Commonwealth Bank's office on South Main Street, has set up an account named "Greensburg, Kansas: Emergency funds to our sister city."
The bank made an initial contribution of $250, said Greensburg Mayor Karl Eisaman.
So far, the local United Way has donated $3,000. The City of Pittsburgh has donated $5,000, said Greensburg Councilman Randy Finfrock. Smaller donations have not yet been tallied.
"This is truly an American experience," Ferguson said. "The people in other parts of the world don't have the altruism to step in like we do."
