GRAVES COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — When the tornadoes first hit Western Kentucky, people from all over flocked to the area to help.
Donations flooded in to the Mayfield-Graves County Fairgrounds. Volunteers helped for hours, days, and weeks on end.
Now that the holidays are over, and kids and adults are back to school and work, the number of volunteers has taken a big dip, according to fairgrounds community outreach liaison Courtney Harger.
"We just need people so bad," Harger said. "So bad. It's really bad."
For example, she said there were ten civilian volunteers sorting donations at the fairgrounds warehouse Tuesday, and they really need about 50 people.
And starting next week, the KY National Guard said most of its members who have been volunteering there will be pulled out. Four personnel will remain through mid-March, pending any changes based on need.
With this in mind, Harger is pleading with the public to help, if possible, because the people of Mayfield are still struggling.
"There are people that still don't have tarps on their roofs," she said. "There are people that still don't have power. Those people need help. They really need our help."
She said they welcome anyone who can come, whenever they can, and for any amount of time.
Even if someone is only able to volunteer for one day, she said that would be helpful.
Graves County native and current Lexington resident Kayla Lokits went to help last Friday.
"We were packing hygiene kits and food boxes," she explained about the work they did.
She said she knows Mayfield will rebuild; it will just take a lot of people coming together to continue to help.
"It's just going to take some time, but they're a really strong community," Lokits said.
Anyone interested in volunteering can sign up here.
