Fundraiser surpasses original goal as community opens hearts and wallets for tornado victims

The organizer of an online fundraiser says it’s been overwhelming how many people are pitching in to help.

As of Friday afternoon, the GoFundMe for Danny and Chelsea Brock had surpassed its goal of $50,000, which has since been raised to $65,000.

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Danny Brock and their three children sheltered in their basement while an EF3-rated tornado destroyed their farm home and outbuildings near Alameda on Tuesday.

“The family obviously was dealing with other things at the time and a lot of people were reaching out, asking how they could help, or if they could send money,” explained James Henderson, whose wife is Chelsea Brock’s sister, in an interview.

Henderson cleared the idea with the Brocks before starting the campaign, which started out with a $25,000 goal.

“Nobody ever wants to be on the receiving end of support like this,” he said. “I can say that without, you know, talking to them, and I know that to be true.

“But it’s overwhelming, the support and the love and the generosity from the local community, especially, but all over the province, people that they’ve never met have no relationship to, or any knowledge of.”

He also noted other campaigns in the community – from raffles to gift card contributions being dropped off at area credit unions.

“I heard today that the local school did a fundraiser and raised something like $700 for the family,” he said, “and we’re just hearing of so many different ways that people are showing their generosity in any way that they can to help this family out through this crisis.”

He says the Brocks are staying with family, but they have a long rebuild ahead of them.

“There’s a lot for the family to figure out and try to figure out what is next, and you know, how do you even start to rebuild from this?” Henderson said. “So, you know, we haven’t really spoken a lot about that at this point, and it’s really just been around trying to deal with, you know, they’re dealing with everything just here now.”

Henderson says the whole family is grateful for the outpouring of support.