SOMERSET, Ky. (LEX 18) — Margaret Simkins is a self-described Christmas hoarder, which made her the perfect candidate to join Operation Ornaments.
"Some sew, some knit, some crochet. I take toilet paper rolls or I'll take a tin can and stomp it," Simkins said.
Simkins joined the cause after seeing our first story on Operation Ornaments, the nonprofit dedicated to supporting communities impacted by natural disasters.
That mission has kept them close to home over the last couple weeks, seeing the devastation caused by an EF-4 tornado.
"It just hit my heart really hard. I have served at many Kentucky disasters but when I was in London, that was the greatest disaster that I have seen," Operation Ornaments founder Laura Davis said.
We've seen the destruction caused throughout Laurel and Pulaski County, including in Somerset where Simkins lives.
"I got a phone call last night. I have a lady who is going to gift me with two Maine coon kitties. She lives in Nancy. It (the storm) skipped her house and took her next door neighbor's house to the ground who is in hospice," Simkins said.
"I've never lost everything. What if I lost everything? How would I feel on Christmas morning and I didn't have an ornament to hang on the mantle…my heart broke."
Seeing what her neighbors have gone through has only reinforced Simkins' dedication to the operation, and Davis is grateful to have someone working hard so close to where this disaster struck.
"I knew that in my heart, she could help be an asset in getting these ornaments out to these people that she cares about that she knows personally as her neighbors," Davis said.
"I want to know that I had something to do that made somebody's life better," Simkins said.
