Donations for Washington, IL
I am updating the bottom of this post as I learn about new ways to donate to the relief effort. Scroll down for the latest information
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you know that my mom’s house was leveled by the tornado that hit Washington, IL yesterday.
My mom’s front yard and door
My younger brother Andrew was in the house when it happened. He was sleeping on the couch when he woke up all of a sudden. He looked out the window to see a tree flying through the air towards him and ran to the top of the stairs. To his right, the kitchen walls were sucked away. He dove for the bathroom and curled up in a ball on the floor. When he opened his eyes, there was a blue sky above him and the toilet, tub, and bathroom walls around him were all gone. He was able to walk away and after a short visit to the hospital, he went home with only 8 stitches, quite a few scratches, and lot of bruises. It’s amazing that he’s alive.
Our motto about this tragedy has been “Things are replaceable. People are not.” We’re very lucky that he was relatively unharmed and all that we lost were things. My mom’s entire neighborhood is basically leveled. If you’ve seen the national news coverage, most of it has been filmed in her neighborhood. Update: Over the past two days, we were able to salvage some items from the house. The basement was still in decent shape, however a water main broke during the tornado, so the basement flooded. Luckily some family photos were in plastic containers and did not get damaged.
The street leading up to my mom’s house
I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for the kind words through your texts, tweets, emails, and other messages. And for those of you who have been asking what you can do, there are a few options.
- The Washington Tornado Relief Fund has been set up to help victims. Checks can be mailed to Washington Tornado Relief Fund, 721 West Jackson St, Morton, IL 61550
- United Way has set up a Heart of Illinois Tornado Relief Fund. Information and donation links can be found here.
- You can donate to the Red Cross of central Illinois. Here is a link to their online donation site. To donate by mail, you will need this form. You can specify that you would like your funds to go to the Central Illinois chapter to ensure that the money is used in these areas.
- The Peoria Chiefs are doing an online auction with all the proceeds going to help the tornado recovery efforts. The auction will have autographed baseballs from Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Greg Maddux and David Freese along with an autographed Ryne Sandberg Hall of Fame program.
- You can purchase a Washington Tornado Relief t-shirt. All proceeds will go to families who have lost their home.
- Heroes Memorial Foundation is accepting online donations for first responders, military (active and veterans) and their families who were affected by the tornado.
Thanks for everyone’s thoughts, good vibes, and support. It’s very much appreciated. You can follow along on twitter with #WashingtonIL or on Instagram
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Congratulations on the new house! And the flour! And the grill!
beantownbaker — April 14th, 2013 @ 9:44 am
Thanks Megan!
congrats to you both! the house is soooo cute! i’m a bit jealous 🙂 looking forward to your return!
beantownbaker — April 14th, 2013 @ 9:46 am
It is the cutest house on our street 🙂 Not that I’m biased… I hope to be back soon!
Congratulations on your new home and promotion! Looking forward to your return here.
beantownbaker — April 14th, 2013 @ 9:45 am
Thanks – I hope to be back soon 🙂
Congrats on your new home!!! Loving the solarium!
beantownbaker — April 14th, 2013 @ 9:45 am
Thanks! We love it too. I was thinking it would be great for taking pictures, but there’s TOO much sunlight in there…
What a lovely home. Congratulations! I bet you can’t believe how much room you have now. And that solarium is fantastic. Our daughter, Bridget, lives in Marblehead but her job is in Boston at America’s Test Kitchen. I would often send her articles you wrote. One thing you will miss is the jargon, the way they talk. But Cincinnati is a lovely city. You two will have a lot of fun there and the food is fantastic. Enjoy it all. Best wishes.
beantownbaker — April 15th, 2013 @ 8:10 am
Thanks for the kind words! Our condo in Boston was less than a half mile from ATK. I had a friend Megan who worked there too. Small world.
Congrats on your new home. Last month I also moved from a condo to a house and it feels really great to have all the space plus a backyard to enjoy grilling, taking food pics etc. Enjoy !
beantownbaker — April 15th, 2013 @ 8:11 am
Isn’t it a great feeling? I have been surprised at how much stuff we had in our tiny condo!
Congrats on the new home! So jealous of all your kitchen space! Try to enjoy filling the empty spaces , which can be so hard 😉
beantownbaker — April 18th, 2013 @ 11:27 am
Ha – I’m hoping to not fill all of the empty space too quickly…
Congrats on the house AND the promotion. The solarium should be great for indoor planting of herbs, etc.! 🙂
beantownbaker — April 18th, 2013 @ 11:30 am
Thanks 🙂 I actually put a plant in the solarium and it started wilting. I think it gets TOO much sunlight in there… I think I just need to find the right plant…
Congratulations on the new home 🙂 it sounds amazing!
beantownbaker — April 18th, 2013 @ 11:29 am
Thanks! We sure think it is!
Congrats on your new home…can’t wait for the new eats…lol…
beantownbaker — April 18th, 2013 @ 11:28 am
Thanks!