Elgin family used Facebook to help tornado survivors

Elgin resident Ken Buckman, in the black jacket, hands a box of donated supplies to his son, Sam, during a recent trip to Washington, Ill. Courtesy of Heide Buckman

Sam Buckman, 10, of Elgin, went with his family to Washington, Ill. this week to drop off supplies and $25,000 in gift cards to tornado survivors. Here, he stands in front of the devastation and holds up a DVD he found in the wreckage. Courtesy of Heide Buckman

Hours after a tornado ravaged downstate Washington, an Elgin family mobilized friends and other contacts to donate cash and supplies for the affected families.

Ken and Heide Buckman helped raise $25,000 in cash, which they used to buy gift cards from Walmart. They also collected more than two tons of supplies for the tornado survivors.

"It was a real testament to what social media is capable of," Ken Buckman said, adding that he's barely slept the last four days. "This was a real pretty indisputable response that shows for the right things, this is the only way to go, and it's a miracle. It truly is a miracle what happened."

The family traveled to Washington Thursday to distribute the donations. They dropped off the gift cards at Washington City Hall.

Ken Buckman added that he and his wife, Heide, pulled their four kids -- Sam, 10 and 11-year-old triplets Morgan, Macey and Madison -- out of school so they could see the devastation for themselves and learn a valuable lesson outside the classroom.

"I think what the kids really pulled out of it -- they appreciate life and everything they've got in a very real way," Ken Buckman said. "What we saw was just beyond words."

The family was inspired by a photograph Ken Buckman spotted on Facebook soon after the tornado struck. It showed a destroyed house that belonged to a woman who was a sister of Ken Buckman's old friend.

Less than 12 hours after the tornado, the Buckmans set up an account on GoFundMe as well as a Facebook page to publicize their charitable efforts and encourage people to donate money and deliver supplies like diapers, bottled water and toiletries to their Elgin home. It caught on like wildfire, and Central Unit District 301, where the kids attend school, helped promote the charity on its Facebook page as well.

The family set their goal at raising $10,000, and they couldn't believe they accomplished that in less than 24 hours.

"We thought maybe a couple thousand we could get, (but) when it went over $10,000 at 22 hours and 17 minutes, we were completely blown away by that," Heide Buckman said.

The kids also got in on the act, thanks to a local PetSmart that agreed to let them set up a table inside to raise money and solicit dog food donations.

To date, the Buckmans have raised more than $26,500 for the tornado survivors and are keeping the Go Fund Me account open so other people can donate. They will also stay in contact with Washington, Ill., officials to see how they can best put that money to use.

"After seeing what we saw, we knew that we had to do more, especially with the holidays coming," Heide Buckman said.