Operation Lend A Hand aiding community after storms

BOURBON, Ind. -- The founder and president of Operation Lend A Hand, Reese Weil, spent the last week leading his disaster relief nonprofit in aiding Marshall County after being hit with two EF1 tornadoes in a matter of days.

In March 2024, Weil was 18 years old when a EF3 tornado hit Winchester, Ind., about two and a half hours away from his hometown of La Paz.

“It’s a town I’ve always grown up in going to the races. So we ended up taking two loads down there and I said you know what, this is my passion, this is my calling, and this is what I want to do, and I filed that night when I got home to become a nonprofit organization and four weeks later we were incorporated,” said Weil.

Now, Reese and his team help in all sorts of disaster relief, big or small. So, when those tornadoes hit Marshall County, he sprang into action, experiencing the damage firsthand in Bourbon on Wed.

“You’re walking through, you know, you start seeing a little bit of damage here, the farther you get in, you know you start seeing roofs torn off, houses shifted sideways, sheds blown over. Um, it’s just very, um chaotic,” said Weil.

Getting from that type of chaos to calm is not an easy job, but Operation Lend A Hand teamed up with services across the community to collect and hand out supplies, provide shelter, and clean up damage.

“You know, I’ve seen several communities devastated, and I’ve never seen anything like the town of Bourbon come together to help one another in this time, you know, it’s very inspiring to see,” shared Weil.

To learn more about the services Operation Lend A Hand offers or to donate, click here.