LEMONT – Lemont resident Terri O'Neill-Borders has answered the call to help with tornado recovery efforts in Moore, Okla.
O'Neill-Borders is the founder of the Hope and Friendship Foundation and also works with Lemont Township Community Services and as chaplain for the Lemont Police Department.
She's heading south with nonprofit Crisis Response International, a group that resources, trains and mobilizes volunteers, churches and other organizations to respond to disasters.
O'Neill-Borders said she is trained to help with death notifications and emotional and psychological first aid but is prepared to help in any way she is needed.
"I wouldn't be walking the walk of the talk I talk if I didn't offer hands, feet, sweat and tears," she wrote in an email to friends Tuesday.
O'Neill-Borders said she had already asked to take time off from her job this week to visit her husband, who works in Overland Park, Kan.
When she received emails form Crisis Response International asking for volunteers and knew she would be only a couple hours away, the decision was made. Her husband, Terry, will accompany her, ready to help with any physical labor.
"Though I was excited about spending a rare relaxing weekend visiting Terry, I believe the plan for me to be already enroute to that area was set long before I answered the phone this morning," she wrote in the email.
Terri O'Neill-Borders previously helped with tornado recovery efforts in Joplin, Mo., but it was five weeks after the tornado hit. This time, she will be helping in the immediate aftermath, which she calls a whole different stage.
"I imagine my ride home will be a difficult ride," she said in a phone interview.
For others who want to help, O'Neill-Borders stressed that people should never self-deploy. Instead, they should contact an organization such as Crisis Response International, the Salvation Army or the American Red Cross.
For more information on Crisis Response International, visit criout.com/event/cri-deployment-to-oklahoma-city/.