KSHB 41 News reporter Braden Bates covers parts of Jackson County, Missouri, including Lee's Summit. Send Braden a story idea by e-mail.
The Belton community continues to recover from an EF-1 tornado that hit the town on April 17.
Community organizations like Heart n Hand are offering their services, including providing families with baby formula, fresh produce and meat.
Danielle Marley-Campos is no stranger to tornadoes or the community connection that follows a storm, drawing her to help Belton neighbors.
"I was going to college when Joplin’s tornado hit. I was in Joplin," Heart n Hand Client Services and Day Service Manager Marley-Campos said."I know what these people feel."
Shortly after the tornado lifted, Marley-Campos jumped into action with her team.
"I delivered boxes of food and drinks and fresh fruit and all of those things to both of our fire houses here in Belton as well as the police department," said Marley-Campos.
On foot, she made her way into the neighborhood's impacted, ensuring everyone knew, free food, drinks and support were available.
The day after the storm, Marley-Campos said they set up at several locations making sure everyone had easy access to food.
"You don’t think about, 'Well, crap I haven’t eaten in 24 hours.' So being able to have something there for them to eat and not worry about where, 'I need to go take a break, I need to go buy food, I need all these things.' I can have it there, if we can have it there for them that’s all we need," said Marley-Campos.
She said it's acts of service like this, giving her strength to provide comfort for others.
"Knowing that I can make a difference in that. I’ve poured everything, I’ve had into it," Marley-Campos said.
Walking through the aisles with Katrina Huckabay, shelves at Heart n Hand were stocked with not only food but the promise of support backing those impacted.
"As our logo is, rebuilding lives and restoring hope, and so we're here for that. We want to restore these hopes in the families that were hit by the tornadoes," Huckabay said.
The food pantry receives generous donations from community partners. This allows them to have an overstock of fresh produce, a selection of meat and dairy products.
"People who are there to help serve us, the minute that we can go back and serve them, is really heart touching," said Huckabay.
In Raymore, Michael Bilyeu and Teresa Buckner sat at a table inside Ate1Six BBQ. The couple’s home, while not severely damaged by the storm, was still without power almost 24 hours after the tornado.
"We're adapting to this catastrophe that's happened," Bilyeu said. "Just putting all the pieces back together."
Their neighbors home didn't fair as well, having the roof blown off. Down trees and branches caused the couple to spend the day cleaning up their neighborhood.
"We're out helping neighbors this morning cut a tree down so they could get out their front door," Buckner said.
In the midst of the night out came a generous offering from the Ate1Six owner.
"This is a community that backs us 100%, so any time that we get the opportunity, why wouldn't we back them?" Martin Davis said.
He provided free meals to those impacted by the storm.
"It's been a God blessing. To see our community and our people come together and help neighbors out," Buckner said.
"This was, unexpected, but we are very grateful for the," Buckner paused as she began to get emotional. Michael Bilyeu finished her thought.
"We're very grateful that the community has pulled together and offering things like such as this for us," Bilyeu said.
The city has partnered with Heart n Hand for donations to help the Belton community.
If you would like to donate, click here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
