Dive Brief:
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Amid the professional contractors who have been working in Joplin, MO, since a tornado blew 200-mph winds through the city on May 22, 2011, were nearly 200,000 volunteers from all over the world, who pitched in to rebuild and repair $2 billion worth of damage.
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On Saturday, one of the movers of the volunteer effort—Rebuild Joplin—finished its work, cutting the ribbon on its 180th and final home.
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The tornado killed 161 people in the southwest Missouri city of 50,000, and more than 4,000 homes and 2,100 businesses and public buildings were damaged or destroyed, according to the city government.
Dive Insight:
Rebuild Joplin coordinated more than 10,000 volunteers and raised more than $500,000 for the effort. Other nonprofit organizations, including the Joplin Area Habitat for Humanity, also organized volunteer efforts.
Rebuild Joplin co-founder Jerrod Hogan said the volunteers who swarmed the devastated city gave residents hope. "We never thought that three-and-a-half years later we would be here knowing the power of what we could do together," he said, calling the effort “a big deal.”