28-05-2025
Athens community members and nonprofit raise over $21K in tornado relief funds
ATHENS, Ala (WHNT) — No one wants to hear that their business or city has been hit by a tornado, yet that was the reality on December 28, 2024, in Athens.
'I received a phone call about 11:30 on December 28th that said 'You probably need to get downtown… we've been hit by a tornado,'' said Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks.
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The EF1 left its mark all across downtown, but it hit the CEI bookstore especially hard. It's a Christian bookstore and supply center.
'Once the roof was ripped off of the building, we kind of knew as soon as we went in that man, nothing much in here is going to survive as far as being able to sell it to customers,' said Lance Taylor.
Taylor is the bookstore's director of operations. He and his team have spent the last five months working hard to get back on their feet. They've even reopened the store in a different location down the road from their original one.
While they've worked to turn a new page, the community has rallied around them as well.
'We were really overwhelmed to see the support from so many people, individuals and business owners to say, 'Hey, we don't want you to go anywhere….what can we do to help,'' he Marks said many people wanted to help when they found out the damage in Athens did not meet the threshold to get state funding. That's when a nonprofit stepped in.
'Athens Main Street and others said, 'We need to help our local business people…..they are the heartbeat of all of our communities,'' said Marks.
They created a 'business storm relief fund,' raising just over $21,000 and providing it to the four businesses hit the hardest.
'One of the first things I told her is I hope there's other people that are eligible for this, too,' said Taylor. 'Because, you know, our building's roof caused a lot of other damage when it came off … You know it landed on a lot of other businesses here in downtown and even the courthouse.'
While the past few months have been far from ideal, Taylor said they're finding the good in this situation, too.
'There was a lot of things to kind of be sad about and cry about or whatever in the loss, but there's also bright spots and the silver lining,' said Taylor.
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