Persons Heads Home to Help with Tornado Recovery
For Ball State men’s basketball player Tayler Persons, the sight was all too familiar.
Three years ago, his hometown of Kokomo, Indiana, was hit by a tornado outbreak that left parts of the city in rubble. Then a senior at Kokomo High School, Persons helped to organize more than 300 students for a cleanup effort.
He’s now a redshirt sophomore at Ball State, but he was back in Kokomo once again Thursday afternoon after another tornado touched down a day earlier.
Also a member of Ball State Sports Link, Persons took a group of classmates from that program with him to help with Thursday’s efforts. They met up with volunteers at his old high school and set out for their work site, an apartment complex where one of his best friends lives.
“We had a group of about 200-250 kids show up,” Persons said. “We went to an apartment complex that was unbelievably damaged and really made a big dent in it.”
Wednesday’s tornado was classified as an EF3 with winds of up to 165 mph. It leveled a Starbucks and ripped through the same area of town debilitated three years earlier. It left around 200 people spending the night in a Red Cross shelter and thousands in the area without power.
“The area we went to today was kind of the same area as last time,” Persons said. “The damage from both tornadoes was awful.”
Back in 2013, Persons reached out for volunteers on Twitter using the hashtag #765StandUp, referencing the area code for his hometown (also shared by his college home in Muncie). He was recognized for his efforts with the United Way of Howard County New-Initiative Volunteer of the Year award.
“I was honored to receive that award, but I wasn’t the only one that helped that day,” Persons said. “It’s nice to be recognized, but I would certainly rather Kokomo not have to go through these disasters.”
When news of Wednesday’s damaging tornado broke, Persons took to social media again to rally volunteers for another cleanup. This time the hashtag was #765StandBackUp.
“I love Kokomo,” Persons said. “I love everything about it. I’m glad I could help. I didn’t have class today, so I felt it was the least I could do to go help for whatever time I could.”
The cleanup efforts in Kokomo are ongoing. Those seeking an outlet to assist can do so through the United Way of Howard County.