Northwest Indiana family brings supplies and hope to St. Louis tornado victims

CBS News

26-05-2025

This holiday weekend, many families hit the road to spend time with loved ones.
But for one couple from Hammond, Indiana, a holiday trip veered in a different direction — as they delivered hope, help, and supplies to tornado victims in St. Louis. Their story goes to show that in a time of devastation, help doesn't always come from emergency crews or official agencies.
Jim and Suzanne Maxwell were already planning to visit their son Mark in St. Louis. But when a deadly E-F-3 tornado hit there on the May 16, plans changed.
They headed southwest to St. Louis in a church van — packed with tarps, food, and the kindness of two people who want to do something good.
"The devastation was just crazy," said Suzanne Maxwell. "Home after home, like roofs off walls, just bricks on the ground, just piles of bricks. A lot of buildings, like, 'Don't even come in here.'"
When tornadoes ripped apart their son's city, the Maxwells, wanted to find a way to mend spirits.
"And as soon as the president of the bank where I work, ABOC, heard about it, he jumped on board with thousands of dollars support just very quickly," said Jim Maxwell, "and well, my little SUV wasn't going to hold thousands of dollars of support."
But the Maxwells' church, Bible Baptist Church in Highland, Indiana, had a van that hold all the supplies they planned to bring. So they got busy outfitting the 22-by15-foot passenger van.
"And Suzanne went shopping and shopping and shopping," said Jim Maxwell. "I think there were at least five different store trips between, when you go get to get 70 of something — we were going to build 70 bags to take to 70 homes — you wipe the store out."
Suzanne Maxwell said she built some muscle with the store trips.
After many store runs, and about 300 miles, the Maxwells spent four hours sorting the relief bags in their son's front yard before taking them directly to the hardest hit areas — knocking on doors for the people who needed them.
"There's so much more work that needs to be done. We just like put a little drop in the bucket," said Suzanne Maxwell. "They need a lot more help. But I was glad we could go."
Dozens of bags were handed out. It was a holiday weekend unlike any of the Maxwells' previous visits, but one maybe made more memorable because of their work.
"It's the place [our son] has learned to love and call home, and you know what? Helping him was a joy. It was. It was a lot of fun. And yeah, difficult — and we can't even imagine being in these people's shoes at all," said Jim Maxwell, "and they just — they're amazing. The people of St. Louis — they're definitely amazing people."
The Maxwells are returning home on Monday, but they said they have already seen the way their small act of giving has grown.
In addition to the contributions from their boss and their church, the Maxwells said they were about to leave, a neighbor saw their work and came over — bringing a huge box of canned goods with them.