August 2007

Mid America

Organizations like the Red Cross, FEMA, and Salvation Army based their work from the Barclay College campus. Volunteers and workers stayed in the dormitories. National Guard members stayed in dorms and tents. Iroquois Center, Lighthouse Worship Center, Youth for Christ, and Kiowa County Memorial Hospital set up temporary offices in college buildings.

Friends light the darkness—May 4, 2007 marks one of the most tragic days in Kiowa County (KS) history. Barclay College was bustling about in preparation for the annual alumni weekend and graduation, unaware of the impact they would soon have on over 1,300 people. That evening an enormous tornado hit Greensburg head on, a town just ten miles away.

Ninety-five percent of Greensburg was destroyed. The Red Cross was dispatched to Haviland to set up a makeshift shelter in the high school gym. Those watching the events felt an urgent need to do something. Volunteers went to the shelter but were overwhelmed by the situation. Not only did residents of Haviland show up to help, so did Barclay students, graduates, and alumni from all over the country. Though they had come to Haviland to celebrate, they acted selflessly, aiding the Red Cross and Haviland residents in setting up the shelter and staying up all night to bring comfort and aid to the Greensburg tornado victims.

In weeks following the tornado, Barclay College and the town of Haviland have become lights in the darkness.