This awesome story comes from Jerrod Hogan, a Land Surveyor in Joplin, MO and the co-founder and un-paid exec director of a nonprofit called Rebuild Joplin. Hogan shared his story with Marc Cheves of American Surveyor Magazine and described as follows:
We started a few days after the May 22, 2011 EF-5 tornado that destroyed 7500 homes. Nearly two years later, our organization has rebuilt 60 homes in Joplin and partnered with a New Orleans nonprofit called the St. Bernard Project. We found synergy in two common values: 1. To rebuild our own communities and 2. To document our lessons and pay forward best practices with the hope that future communities impacted by storms have access to a more efficient recovery model. Today we are on the ground in New York partnering with Tunnel 2 Towers, Friends of Rockaway and We Build New York. Together, we are hosting a bicycle tour fundraiser called JOMONOLA. We will have 40 riders on the seat of a bike for 10 days and 800 miles beginning in Joplin on June 20 and ending in New Orleans on June 30. The ride will raise funds and awareness for three disaster impacted communities of New York, New Orleans and Joplin and will fund the construction of one home in each community. We still have openings for riders and always in need of sponsors…
Website is www.jomonola.org
Facebook www.facebook.com/jomonola