In one instant, Anne Bauer’s world completely changed. This single mom found herself huddled in her basement shaken by the F4 tornado that swept through her hometown of Henryville, IN and leveled her home, barn, and twenty acres of tree line. She was grateful to be alive but felt completely overwhelmed at the amount of debris and cleanup that was ahead of her. A team of nine from Never Settle arrived with chainsaws in hand ready to help where needed. After just one day of work on her farm, Never Settle was able to completely clear the pasture for her horses that was littered with glass, trees, and twisted metal. The debris and downed trees that completely covered the area around her home turned into stacks of organized cut wood, metal scraps, and trash to be hauled away. But the vast amount of debris removal was too daunting for just one team.
Members of Never Settle went to a nearby gas station to buy water for the workers and met a lady that was touched by Anne’s story and immediately came back to the farm with us with a truck and trailer! The news continued to spread and because of Never Settle’s influence, other small teams were sent to help from the official disaster relief headquarters in downtown Henryville. More wood was cut, large amounts of debris were hauled away and even the fallen trees in her pond were pulled from the water along with lawn furniture, metal, and wood from the side of her barn. By the end of the day, the farm looked completely different. It was truly extraordinary the difference that was made in just one day.
March 2 was a life-changing day for Anne Bauer. She lost her home, barn, and nearly her life. She told us what impacted her most was not the devastation of that day but the overwhelming love and support she experienced from ordinary people; people she didn’t even know. Anne wasn’t the only one changed that day. The volunteers representing Team Never Settle will never be the same again but they will be the first to tell you that there is nothing special about them. We are all just ordinary people with a strong desire to come together and use our talents and passions to change the world and today, we did.
- Mindy Pittman, Team Never Settle
Photos of Team Never Settle in Henryville, IN.
Video Interview with Henryville Tornado Survivor
You can support early response diaster relief efforts by donating or volunteering