LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — United Way is calling for volunteers to help with the next step in tornado recovery.
Little Rock raised $400,000 to help those impacted. Now, it's time to distribute the funds with the assistance of volunteers.
Earlier this summer, Heart of Arkansas United Way was selected to handle the tornado relief money in Little Rock. As they approach the final steps of distributing the money, they need volunteers to help finish up.
"It's been everything from developing the application to getting it online, to working with the city's communication department, to make sure everyone is aware of it," Arkansas United Way member Mollie Palmer said.
In March, nearly 3,000 buildings were damaged in Little Rock. 89 of those, which were primarily homes, were destroyed.
Heart of Arkansas United Way is in charge of making sure those impacted by the tornado get financial assistance.
The organization created and posted an application for people to request additional help.
On Friday, that application process closed with more than 300 completed. Now, United Way will start going through them. They will check to ensure the applications are filled out correctly and that no additional information is needed.
With the number of applications, United Way is asking volunteers to help sort through them.
"We train," Palmer said. "We provide them access to software and technology to do the process.
There are two qualifications to volunteer:
- United Way asks that you be a resident of Little Rock
- You have at least 15 hours you can give
A volunteer will review about 20- 25 applications. Then, the volunteer will get in a small group to have a discussion and create recommendations with other volunteers.
United Way hopes to have these applications reviewed in October and to have the money distributed by the end of the year.