Operation BBQ Relief among several organizations helping with Union City tornado recovery
Communities in Southwest Michigan continue to pick up the pieces after tornadoes left four people dead on Friday.
Support is coming in from far and wide to respond to the disaster since then.
CBS News Detroit spoke with folks in Union City to learn how one organization is fueling this small town's recovery.
Operation BBQ Relief uses its smokers to make sure a hot meal isn't among the worries those who live here are already facing.
"We're not just serving a meal, we're serving hope," said Operation BBQ Relief area coordinator Emlyn Thomas.
For the people enduring the aftermath of Friday's fatal storms, it doesn't matter so much what's on the plate, but rather that someone is taking the time to serve it.
"It's definitely left something we won't ever forget, from the sound of the howling when it hit, the windows shaking in our house, and then rushing out to help community members after it was over. It's going to take a while to recover from this, that's for sure," said Union City resident Amanda Gleason.
Volunteers with Operation BBQ Relief are used to stepping up where natural disasters strike, with the stories they've heard from Union City residents sounding all too familiar.
"A guy came through yesterday with a mark on his face. He said, 'That's where I got hit with my front door' when it exploded on him. He jumped on his wife, covered her up, and the house came down on top of them. People have lost everything, and they're in shock," Thomas said.
With everything people here are going through, Thomas says he knows how much more a simple plate of BBQ chicken and some baked beans can mean.
"The fact that we can come here and say we care, we're going to cook for you, and we're going to feed you, and that there's some hope that this is going to get better, we're very privileged to do that for people," he said.
Union City High School is serving as the hub for this community-wide recovery effort, offering everything from resources to information, and even giving people a place to stay as this rebuild continues.
