JANESVILLE, Wis. — Clean up and recovery efforts are still underway in Janesville after an EF-2 tornado swept through on Saturday evening.
Tuesday marked day three of clean up efforts in the city of Janesville. One of the harder hit areas is on Kellogg Avenue. That’s where many work crews spent their day in the heat and humidity on Tuesday to help those in need.
Carmen Roche and Joseph Sanovich were just two of the man volunteers working on Kellogg Avenue following the storm.
For the past three days, they have been stepping in to help. Both Roche and Sanovich are full-time police officers with the city of Janesville. They said for the past few days, they have been using their days off to volunteer with a nonprofit that means a lot to them.
“It’s that inner desire to give back,” Roche said.
Roche and Sanovich are partners and both serve on the Janesville Police Department and for the local chapter of the national nonprofit, Sheep Dog Impact Assistance.
The program supports veterans and first responders though outdoor adventure programs, mental health services and disaster response.
Both Roche and Sanovich have been with the program for a handful of years and have deployed to many different states to help during crisis. They said this is the first time they have been able to give back through the program in the community they call home.
“The sense of gratitude we get from being able to help people is just amazing,” Sanovich said.
Over the past three days, nearly 30 local veterans, first responders, and others came out to volunteer with the Sheep Dog program. The team has assisted with cutting down trees and removing debris from people’s yards and even putting tarps on people’s roofs.
“When we heard about it, it was an instant, we have to do something,” Roche said. “You know, we had to find the resources, we had to find the volunteers and just get it done.”
Roche said the past few days they have put in at least 12 hours of work each day to help out in the community. Their goal is to give back, all while giving the first responders assisting a sense of purpose and a task to complete.
“That’s one of the main things we do is try to give back,” Sanovich said. “It also helps us get our volunteers out who are maybe suffering from mental health stuff themselves. We believe helping others is a way of life. Helping is healing. When we are out here doing good things for other people, it makes ourselves feel better.”
The team said they plan to work in the heat for as long as needed to help people within the Janesville community.
“There is good everywhere,” Roche said. “We have seen how the community has come together.”
Roche said Sheep Dog Impact Assistance is in need of donations to continue their work in Janesville and across the country. To donate, click here.
The city of Janesville also offered dozens of resources on Tuesday. At the resource center in town, the city had an event for residents in need of assistance to attend.
There were dozens of booths where local organizations and nonprofits were able to share information and resources to those in need.
“It means the world to be able to bring an event like this to our impacted residents,” city of Janesville public information officer, Nick Faust said. “It’s really heartening to see organizations come together and step up, neighbors, really step up in our volunteer efforts. It takes a city to really recover from something like this.”
The city said if people are still in need of assistance to visit the city’s website or call 211.