Reader submitted content: Sturgis community thanked following severe storm

By Dray Perkins

The night of June 11th, and the days that followed, will probably be events that many people in the Sturgis area will remember for quite some time. As severe weather blew through the city, the landscape of our community was changed in many areas in a matter of minutes. Now, I expected the storm to bring damage. I expected it to bring power outages. What I did not expect though was the sheer resiliency and camaraderie that were put on display following the weather event; and for that I owe many members of the community many many thank yous.

First and foremost, I’d like to thank the city crews and mutual aid groups that immediately rose to the challenge of repairing and restoring our community following the straight-line winds that caused an unprecedented amount of damage literally across the entire community. I’ve often wondered what might happen if a natural disaster were to ever strike here. Thank you all for showing how you respond.

On the volunteer side of things, Big-Ups and thanks go out to Bennett and Alisha Ahrens, the admins and founders of the Sturgis Community Facebook group. It was through their commitment to free speech and uncensored community conversation that allowed volunteers to reach out to, and connect with, those in need of support following the storm. I’d also like to recognize and thank all the members of that group who went out of their way to check on their friends, neighbors, and loved ones, and shared with us their specific needs during the power outage. Some of you made colossal impacts, probably more than you’ll ever realize.

To all the guys running chainsaws for perfect strangers, to all the ladies emptying out truck beds and directing traffic, to all the younger residents helping clear up debris, and handing out food and water to work crews, thank you. Your compassion, time, labor, and dedication to helping the community recover was truly inspirational. It was beyond moving to see so many younger people doing what they could to help, not because they were bored, but because they understood the needs that existed, and were confident in their abilities to fill those needs. You and your families should all be proud.

To all who donated supplies such as hot foods, coolers, ice, portable chargers, tools, trucks, radios, etc., thank you all for sharing what you could to help make your neighbors’ lives more comfortable during a challenging situation. In the days following the storm, while many were left without power, I found that it was often the smallest and simplest acts that made the largest impact. Thank you all for lending what you could, when you could.

I’d like to give an extra special and sincere thank you to Jodi Johnson for being instrumental in maintaining my bandwidth and spoon count while help requests and blackout alerts were coming in. Also, Denz (The Legend) and Vivian Rae, and family, thank you all for the meals and late-night therapy sessions. It’s because of you, my mental health and focus never took a significant hit, even though I fully expected both to crash at one point in time or another. You all were invaluable in helping keep my sleep deprived head above water, and I cannot say thank you enough for that.

Tip of the hat and special thanks also go out to Jamie and Sarah at the SYCA, who each played central roles in keeping mutual aid crews well taken care of, and even went the extra mile to share vital resources with residents during their greatest time of need. I’d be remiss if I didn’t also extend a HUGE Thank You and Shout Out to Hip Padders Catering for helping take such good care of work crews. Crews don’t work well on empty stomachs, and the crews I saw in action looked like they were working just fine, so to everyone who played a role in that, no matter how large or small, thank you.

To the big-brained ladies and friends at the Sturgis Area Community Foundation, Headlines Hair Design, and St. John’s Episcopal Church, I’d like to thank you all for your time, energy, ideas, and willingness to support the community in so many ways. You are super amazing people. Finally, I’d like to thank all the organizers and volunteers at the St. Joseph County United Way from the top to the bottom. Many people talk about how they would respond during an emergency situation, or following a disaster, but you folks stepped up and did the thing. Thank you for sharing your strength, resilience, and resources with the rest of us.

This piece was submitted by a reader and edited by Watershed Voice staff for publication.