For the past three weeks, volunteers have sustained St. Louis’ tornado response. But as areas in the city’s north and west sides continue to recover from the May 16 storms, residents there can no longer rely on the help of two relief hubs that have organized masses of volunteers into an army of aid workers.
On Friday afternoon, the People’s Response Hub in the O’Fallon Park YMCA ended its operations. The same day, the hub maintained by 4theVille closed.
Those developments don’t mean that volunteer-led relief efforts have permanently concluded, said Action St. Louis Executive Director Kayla Reed. Reed is one of the key organizers of the O’Fallon Park hub in the Fairground Park neighborhood, where the storm’s damage is still visible on nearly every street.
Reed said Thursday that while efforts are underway to establish relief operations at a nearby location “very quickly,” it could still take days, at least.
“What we are working on … is a new site to continue work primarily focused on supporting residents with immediate supply needs,” she said. “We're still figuring out all the logistics and details of that, because we're working mostly to set that up as an organization. That's just going to take some time.”
For those who have relied on the volunteer-powered sites to receive basic items, the next days — during which there will be a “gap” in services, as Reed described it — will be even more difficult.
“They're not going to have the things that they need,” she continued. “We're providing things like bottled water, diapers and formula, adult diapers for people and food. If we're not here for a few days, and the other hubs are closing as well, where do they go?”
The changing landscape for disaster relief signals a move into a new phase. Reed cautioned that the community members who made up the “powerhouse” of these projects — tasks that ranged from receiving donations to field distribution — are now running low on resources themselves.
“I think we saw ourselves as standing in the gap, and we anticipated the gap would be shorter than this,” she said. “We've extended [the relief hub’s operation] twice, in part because there is not a clear pathway for the government to step in.”
The timeline for substantial government relief remains murky, leaving St. Louis to reckon with more than $1 billion in property damage and five deaths. Although Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe has requested a major disaster declaration, it remains unsigned by President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley told St. Louis Public Radio that he wasn’t sure if the Federal Emergency Management Agency had delivered an official recommendation on Kehoe’s request.
Meanwhile, on Friday afternoon, the City of St. Louis announced the opening of a Disaster Assistance Center “to serve as a central space for tornado-affected residents to connect with agencies offering guidance, resources, and assistance related to recovery and long-term support.” Located inside the Chaifetz Arena, the center will be open for several days every week through June 26. Residents are directed to register for appointments through a city website.
Chaifetz Arena is about three miles south of Fairgrounds Park. Uber is offering free rides to and from the Disaster Relief Center with the promo code STLRELIEF2025.
Helping how they can
While the storm-damaged areas wait for official relief efforts to take hold, the sheer scope of the damage in places like Fairgrounds Park presents a daunting challenge to the volunteers who continue to work the area.
“These are massive trees that have fallen across multiple yards, destroyed the fences,” Anil Pillai told St. Louis on the Air. On a recent Saturday, he and several members of the STL Cleanup Crew joined other volunteers in chopping and hauling branches from the backyard of a home in north St. Louis.
First inspired by a Reddit post last December to pick up trash in the region, the Cleanup Crew joined tornado relief efforts after May 16.
Wielding a chainsaw isn’t a requirement.
“I'm using my strengths,” said member Joyce Wong. “You can be someone who breaks down trees and branches, or you can be someone who knocks on doors and checks in on people to make sure that they're OK. There are a lot of places and roles that anyone can be involved in.”
More than three weeks into the aftermath of the tornado, the progress that’s been made in clearing streets and infrastructure is undeniable. But tarped roofs and tree-cleared streets do not resolve the need for basic resources for the people still living in impacted neighborhoods. That reality has kept people like Kevin Jackson in the area.
Jackson’s hot dog stand, parked across the street in Fairground Park, has been a consistent presence through the past three weeks. Some nights, he’s given out free hot dogs late into the night and early morning. He said that for the first 13 days after the storm, he slept in his truck so he could keep giving out food.
On Thursday, in the span of 15 minutes, Jackson handed out a dozen hot dogs to the small groups of adults and children passing by the nearby wreckage.
“I am getting word that a lot of the assistance is pulling out,” Jackson said. “Yet I have several people that have told me that as long as I'm here, they will make sure that I can serve the people some food. And so I plan on being here until, I guess, the Holy Spirit tells me I've got to go."
To hear the full conversation, including insights from Action St. Louis Executive Director Kayla Reed, and a discussion about ongoing volunteer efforts with Matthew Walker, Joyce Wong and Anil Pillai of the STL Cleanup Crew, listen to “St. Louis on the Air” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube, or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. The production intern is Darrious Varner. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
