Ludlow rotary delivers emergency aid to Kentucky tornado victims

On a recent weekend with threatening storms and frigid temperatures, Ludlow Rotarian Kim Benson Lampert and her husband, Jon headed south to Elizabethtown, Kentucky to deliver a truck and trailer loaded with goods for storm-ravaged Kentuckians who had lost everything.

Lampert said, “I am overwhelmed by the support of our club and community members as well as our Rotary district.”

Donations of $1,000 were received from Henniker, New Hampshire and Poultney Rotary Clubs. The Concord, New Hampshire Rotary Club donated $5,000. The Brattleboro Sunrise Rotary Club donated the proceeds of $210 from its trivia night for this cause. Several other district rotarians made personal donations to this cause as well.

Troy Caruso donated sports-related toys from his Assisting Children Today charity arm to assist with a Christmas in January celebration for children who had no Christmas this year.  Numerous individuals and groups brought boxes and bags of clothing, toiletries, household supplies and other needed items to Benson’s Chevrolet and Cota and Cota.

From there rotarians and volunteers moved everything to the Lamperts where a snowmobile trailer was loaded to overflowing. At that point, George Benson, Jr. donated use of his larger trailer to the cause. The smaller trailer was unloaded into the larger trailer before goods that continued to pour in were added to it. Ultimately, the larger trailer was packed to the ceiling by a group of volunteers, including Jon Lampert, Ludlow Rotarians Brigid Sullivan and Barb LeMire with her husband, Doug LeMire; generous Mount Holly friends, Nancy McKeegan, Fern and Dennis Melvin who spent more than two hours readying the trailer for the 15-hour road trip.

The Lamperts left on Friday after work, arriving at a storage unit rented by the Elizabethtown club on mid-day Saturday. There, Kaytlin Edwards of the Grayson County, Kentucky rotary club, met them to unload the almost 1,000 cubic feet of goods that ultimately filled the storage unit.

Edwards will organize work bees among her fellow KY Rotarians to sort items and deliver them to so many needy people who lost everything in the Dec. 10, 2021 storms. She was shocked at the amount of goods sent by the Ludlow Club. “We actually had a nice variety of items,” said Kim Lampert.

The Ludlow Club is continuing to collect cash for the victims. Checks should be made payable to LARCF with KY Tornado written in the “for” line. They can be mailed to Ludlow Rotary, Box 216, Ludlow, VT 05149.

Anyone interested in learning more about joining Rotary is invited to contact Kevin Barnes, membership chairman at (802) 228-8877, to receive an invitation to a meeting.