Cómo ayudar

Volunteer Fox Cities is the region's volunteer coordination organization, and the route Outagamie County directs people to for tornado response.

They have posted dedicated Volunteer Tornado Response Information and connect individuals, groups and companies with the nonprofits that actually need hands.

Register through them rather than self-deploying. Organized crews get sent where the need is, arrive with the right equipment, and are covered by insurance.

United Way Fox Cities has opened a Tornado Recovery — Community Response Fund taking donations for storm recovery across the Fox Cities.

Why money rather than goods. It sounds cold next to a truckload of supplies, but cash lets relief groups buy exactly what is short, locally, from businesses that were damaged, with no sorting, storage or hauling cost. Donated goods have to be received, sorted and warehoused by the same volunteers who would otherwise be helping survivors.

This is an established local organization, which matters right now — fake relief funds appear within 48 hours of every disaster and this one is well past that mark. Before giving to any other fundraiser, read the warnings in the Avoid Scams section.

Donate online at the link, or call with questions.

Volunteer Fox Cities no está pidiendo al público general presentarse al Centro de Recepción de Voluntarios. El voluntariado público a gran escala terminó después del lunes por la tarde.

El centro de Midway Road sigue abierto, pero está coordinando voluntarios especializados y grupos acordados de antemano — no personas que llegan sin cita. Presentarse no va a conseguirle una asignación, y distrae al personal de las cuadrillas que ya están trabajando.

Esto es normal, y no significa que ya no se necesite ayuda. La primera semana de un desastre necesita muchas manos a la vez. Los meses siguientes necesitan menos gente haciendo cosas específicas, coordinadas por adelantado. El trabajo no se acabó; cambió de forma.

Qué hacer en su lugar

• Regístrese con Volunteer Fox Cities en el enlace de abajo y espere a que lo llamen. Ellos dicen claramente que si vuelve a hacer falta ayuda pública a gran escala, lo anunciarán por sus propios canales.
• Regístrese con Crisis Cleanup si tiene experiencia con motosierra, techos o trabajo pesado — esa es la vía para el trabajo específico que sí se está asignando.
• Done dinero en vez de tiempo o cosas. Sigue siendo lo más útil en esta etapa, a través de United Way Fox Cities.
• Revise a sus propios vecinos, sobre todo a quien esté solo, sea mayor o esté delicado de salud. Eso nunca necesita coordinación.

Por favor no se auto-despliegue en las zonas dañadas. La ayuda sin entrenamiento cerca de árboles inestables y cables caídos crea víctimas, y el hospital ya reporta un aumento de heridas durante la limpieza.

Comparta lo que vio

Volunteer Fox Cities está recopilando los relatos de la respuesta — más de 6,000 personas pasaron por el Volunteer Reception Center solo en la primera semana, y quieren reunir esas historias antes de que se pierdan.

Si usted fue voluntario, donó, dirigió un equipo, o simplemente vio a alguien hacer algo que vale la pena recordar, puede compartirlo en volunteerfoxcities.org/tornado.vol.stories.

No reemplaza el trabajo, y nadie debe fingir lo contrario. Pero si lo rechazaron en el centro y ha estado buscando una manera de ser útil, esta no cuesta nada y de verdad la quieren.

Community Clothes Closet is still listed by Winnebago County as a pickup point for clothing and supplies for those in need. If you lost clothing in the storm, or cannot get to what you own, go and take what you need.

Client shopping hours: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m., and Monday evening 6:00 – 7:45 p.m.

The extra storm hours they ran in the first week (29–31 July) have ended — these are their normal hours. Worth confirming before a long trip.

Their phones are not working reliably since the storm. If a call does not go through, email info@communityclothescloset.org instead.

To donate: they need essential clothing and financial gifts to keep up with demand. Donation hours are Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and Monday evening 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Gunderson Cleaners also accepts donations on their behalf — preferably in bags rather than boxes, three bags maximum.

El Fondo de Respuesta Comunitaria — Auxilio por el Tornado 2026 se activó el 28 de julio de 2026, en respuesta al tornado del 27 de julio. Es una alianza entre la Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, United Way Fox Cities y la Oshkosh Area Community Foundation.

El fondo tiene dos objetivos igual de importantes:

• Atender las necesidades inmediatas y de largo plazo de las personas afectadas
• Sostener la capacidad de las organizaciones que están haciendo el trabajo de respuesta y recuperación

Las subvenciones apoyan a organizaciones sin fines de lucro que sirven a residentes de los condados de Outagamie, Calumet, Shawano, Waupaca y el área de Neenah–Menasha del condado de Winnebago. Se da prioridad a las organizaciones que atienden a quienes enfrentan las mayores barreras para recuperarse — incluyendo adultos mayores, personas con discapacidad, hogares de bajos ingresos, personas sin vivienda y familias que no hablan inglés.

Quiénes pueden solicitar: organizaciones sin fines de lucro 501(c)(3), grupos con patrocinio fiscal, e iglesias u otras entidades públicas que puedan recibir donaciones deducibles de impuestos. Las solicitudes se aceptan de forma continua y se revisan cada semana; puede volver a solicitar conforme cambien las necesidades.

Preguntas sobre cómo solicitar: ceteam@cffoxvalley.org o 920-702-7640.

Les Stumpf Ford is offering two forms of help to anyone affected by the storm.

Free shuttle service. If you cannot get to a doctor's appointment or pick up essential prescriptions, call and ask for Shuttle Service. Transportation is provided within the Fox Valley for essential medical needs.

Donation drop-off and pick-up. Stop by during business hours to donate, or to pick up supplies if you need them. They are collecting and distributing:

• Bottled water
• Cleaning supplies and disinfecting wipes
• Work gloves
• Contractor trash bags
• Paper towels and toilet paper
• Flashlights and batteries
• Diapers and baby wipes
• Non-perishable food
• Gift cards (grocery, gas and home improvement)

Organized teams get routed to households that requested help, arrive with the right equipment, carry insurance, and are supervised by people who know what a compromised tree or a live service drop looks like.

• Crisis Cleanup (844-965-1386) coordinates the relief organizations working the area — contact them about joining a team
• Local churches and service clubs are usually organizing crews within days; watch community Facebook groups
• 211 can connect you with volunteer needs as they are registered

If you do volunteer: bring heavy gloves, boots with puncture-resistant soles, eye protection, long sleeves, and your own water. Make sure your tetanus shot is current.

For those interested in volunteering, Volunteer Fox Cities is still assessing community needs and determining where volunteer support will be most helpful. In the meantime, sign up for the Tornado Volunteer Standby List — your name will be added to a list to be contacted once more specific opportunities are known.

When registering:

• Select yes when asked whether you want to be called upon in the event of a disaster
• Include any tasks, resources, or assistance you are able to offer
• Note any relevant skills, certifications, disaster training, or equipment you have — this helps match volunteers to needs as they are identified

Please be patient and wait for a specific call to action. Do not show up to affected areas unless instructed. Local emergency management is still determining where help is needed most.

Blood on the shelf is what treats injuries today — donations made now replenish supply for the coming weeks. Storms also cause blood drives to be canceled across a wide area, so shortages tend to follow disasters even where nobody was hurt.

• American Red Cross: 1-800-RED-CROSS or redcrossblood.org
• Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin operates donation centers across the Fox Valley

Schedule an appointment rather than walking in — centers are busy after a disaster.

Seven weeks on, mass goods collection has ended. The Volunteer Reception Center and the Donation Center are both closed, and Winnebago County has removed its list of donation drop-off points.

If you have things to give

Check what is actually needed first. Volunteer Fox Cities posts current in-kind donation requests alongside volunteer opportunities, and those are dated and real rather than a list somebody stopped updating:

Volunteer opportunities and in-kind donation requests

Turning up at a church or a shop with a carload, on the strength of a list from August, is now likely to be turned away — and the cost of that falls on staff who are still recovering themselves.

Money is now clearly the more useful thing

This was true in week one and it is more true now. The households still in trouble need specific, expensive things — a deposit, a replacement appliance, a gap an insurance settlement did not cover. Those come from cash, not from a box of clothes.

• United Way Fox Cities — Community Response Fund
• Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region — the same pooled 2026 Tornado Community Response Fund

A correction worth being clear about: that fund makes grants to nonprofits, not to individuals. If you are the one who needs help, you cannot apply to it directly — the money reaches you through the organisations listed across this site. United Way say it plainly themselves: start by ringing 211.

Somewhere your goods are always wanted

St. Vincent de Paul takes household goods, clothing and furniture at their thrift stores year-round, and gives them to people who need them — including tornado households. Neenah/Menasha 920-727-1766, Appleton 920-739-1679. That route does not depend on a storm list still being maintained.

Anything worn out, broken or dirty should go to the tip. Sorting unusable donations is a real cost that falls on volunteers.