Carolina Panthers owner and Tepper Foundation provides tornado assistance

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Appearances reveal evidence of unfinished business as communities across Western Kentucky attempt to bounce back from its battle against nature more than three months later.

On street after street, the landscape is littered with smashed cars, broken glass, and piles of rubble. In many instances, local landmarks are gone.

Tony Watkins carries out a personal mission in a public place and is grateful for the help from the Carolinas.

“Samaritan’s Purse was here. Billy Graham was here, " he said.

Watkins heads up the Community Foundation of West Kentucky and is on the receiving end of help from Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper who provided assistance through the Tepper Foundation and the David and Nicole Tepper Foundation.

Both outreach organizations donated a combined $375,000 to lighten a very heavy load.

“They’ve been very grateful and very generous to us,” Watkins told WBTV.

Partnering with the Eko Villages, a Land Betterment Corporation, $100,000 from the Panther’s owner is paying for repurposed truck containers which helps ease the burden of a housing dilemma.

Martha Woolsey is on the receiving end of one of the homes.

“Pretty much everybody here is below the poverty level, and that goes back into the housing thing,” she said.

“There’s no rental property. There’s nowhere for people to go.”

Surviving in a challenging environment is a daily test of one’s strength, considering that so much is compounded by poverty’s pain.

Many of those who endured such an unforgettable night of reckoning are hoping they will not be among the forgotten.

Impacted families are attracted to Ms. Becky’s Place in Dawson Springs.

Becky James was featured on CBS Sunday morning after it was learned she lost her home but managed to save the family business.

Her son Lee James says cooked meals have a way of feeding the soul of an ailing community.

He said, " We have people who work here that needed to get back to work. They were affected by the tornado. We needed it.”

Such a need rings true with pray-painted statements at the local crossroads helping to define a tough road ahead for this Western Kentucky Town. A spokesperson from the Tepper foundations said in a statement that the financial gifts were also sent to the Feeding America’s Kentucky Heartland, The Food Bank of Northeast Arkansas, and The American Red Cross.

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