Cottey student helps tornado victims

Kendra Earl, left, who just completed her freshman year at Cottey College in Missouri, and her sister, Bri Evans, a sophomore at Shippensburg University, sit in their Palmyra home on Tuesday afternoon and prepare care packages for residents of Joplin, Mo., a town slammed by a tornado over the weekend, killing more than 130 people. Jeremy Long/Lebanon Daily News.

Lebanon, Pa. -- Many students home from their first year of college have their feet kicked up as they relax at home, but not Kendra Earl.

The Palmyra woman has been assembling care packages for victims of Sunday's deadly tornado in Joplin, Mo., and plans to deliver a tractor-trailer load of supplies to them next week.

Earl arrived home from her freshman year at Cottey College in Nevada, Mo., about an hour north of Joplin, around 10 p.m. Sunday when she heard the news of the tornado that left a 6-mile path of destruction and killed more than 130people.

She began collecting donations immediately, and her living room became a storage space for the items.

"I have lots of friends and loved ones there, so I don't have time to wait around," Earl said.

Earl is involved with Palmyra Brethren in Christ Church, 616 W. Main St., which began accepting donations for the tornado victims at Earl's request. Her goal is to have a tractor-trailer full of donations for Joplin residents.

"I know it's a really big goal," she said, "but I feel that this community is big enough to pull it off."

Truck driver Harry Allen, 41, of Mt. Wilson, learned of Earl's project when he called the Red Cross and immediately offered his help. Allen, who is also collecting donations in York, drives a truck for Frito Lay and contacted Penske Truck Rental, which donated two trucks to transport the donations.

"I've never been involved like this before," Allen said. "I realized my problems were nothing compared to the victims in the Midwest, and that's what triggered it, I think." Allen volunteered to drive one of the trucks to Joplin and is leaving Monday for Missouri. Earl will leave with the second truck either Tuesday or Wednesday. The pair hope more volunteers step forward to travel with them.

"I appreciate the help," Earl said. "Our Pennsylvania community is phenomenal. I had faith in the people around here because they are so giving. It blows me away that we can do something like this for people 1,000 miles away."

Upon arriving in Missouri, Earl said, she plans to work with the Fir Road Christian Church of Carl Junction, Mo., and ask the Red Cross what they need her to do.

Earl is not inexperienced at helping others.

She visited New Orleans during the summer of 2006 with Palmyra Brethren in Christ Church to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. There, she cleaned houses and yards and participated in a ministry with the group.

This time, Earl is helping in a new way -- asking for donations of bottled water, nonperishable foods, soaps, toothpaste, bandages and other items.

At Cottey College, Earl majors in animal science. She said she decided on the two-year liberal arts college because her mother, Jeri Earl, and former fourth-grade teacher, Sally Monhey of Forge Road Elementary School in Palmyra, are members of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, which advocates advancing women's education by owning and supporting the school. Earl received a letter of acceptance Tuesday from the University of Missouri in Columbia and plans to transfer for her junior year.

Reprinted with permission from the Lebanon Daily News, Lebanon, Pa.