Many Hoosier fans were gearing up to watch the IU men’s basketball game on Sunday afternoon while others sought cover as severe storms swept across the Midwest. A member of the IU campus family, the city of Kokomo, was hit especially hard with a 10-mile long tornado touching down, destroying about 50 homes and injuring more than 30.

As an IUAA staff member that travels the state of Indiana (I visited Kokomo just last week) and a fellow Hoosier, my heart goes out to this community. I want to take a moment to thank the first-response teams that risked their lives in the wake of the storm, the volunteers that are continuing to provide relief to those who have been affected, and the individuals who heeded the warnings and took shelter. It is a blessed thing not to mourn any loss of life after a disaster; material goods can be replaced but lives can’t.

The IUAA stands in support of the Kokomo community, which will undoubtedly come together and rally to rebuild. They are in need of assistance, though. Here are a few ways that we can rally together to help:

1. Send notes of encouragement, as comments to this post or personal emails, to those you know.
2. The IU Kokomo campus is organizing a relief effort around this weekend’s IUK Homecoming events. Local alumni can donate cleaning products, toiletries, and other items needed by Kokomo residents displaced by the storm starting today. Donation boxes will be available in IUK’s Alumni Hall, and also at Saturday’s Homecoming basketball game. All donations will be given to the United Way of Howard County, which will act as the distributing agency. Monetary gifts are also being accepted through the Howard County United Way.

I’ll leave you with words from the Dalai Lama. “It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others.”

Thank you for all the good you do, both for IU and for each other.

Rachael Jones McAfee, Alumni Relations Officer, IU Alumni Association