When the need arose the Warren County community, like others from all across the state, responded following the deadly tornado in Joplin. Gov. Jay Nixon last Thursday thanked and recognized local emergency service personnel for their role in collecting donations in the aftermath of the catastrophic event. He also presented leadership coins to the heads of local law enforcement and first responder agencies during the stop at Warrenton Fire Protection District's Station 1. The May 22 tornado, the deadliest-single twister in 61 years, killed 161 people and destroyed more than 7,000 residences. Some of the buildings that sustained significant damage included the high school and St. John's Regional Medical Center. The amount of support since then has been overwhelming. Following the crippling tornado, 403 law enforcement and first first responder agencies responded to Joplin and more than 113,000 individuals volunteered during the cleanup, Nixon said. Though cleanup continues and homes and businesses need to be rebuilt, the Joplin community is moving forward. "People from across the state have made a huge difference," Nixon said. "As governor of the state, you have to give orders where you rely on training, you rely on people to lead. The people in this state who run to trouble when this happens are the best in America. We are the best in America when it comes to responding to these types of challenges." Orchestrated by Fireman's Fund, an insurance company in O'Fallon, and emergency service agencies in the county, collection points were established in Warrenton, Wright City and Marthasville for donations that were delivered to the Joplin community. Within a week's time, a trailer was stuffed with donations and had to be transported to Joplin. A second trailer load also was delivered. Emily Pitts and Erin Vosbrink, both of Fireman's Fund, said they wanted to help out in some way. They teamed up with Warrenton Fire Chief Mike Owenby upon learning of the department's collection drive. "I feel like a lot of people wanted to help, but time constraints wouldn't allow them," Pitts said. "We just tried to do something so that everybody who wanted to contribute could." While appreciative of the governor's recognition, Owenby said some of the attention should be directed to the residents and businesses who donated items. He noted that Wal-Mart set up collection points throughout its Warrenton store and Hays Food Systems donated multiple pallets of water. "When we put the word out, the different agencies and businesses in the community responded," Nixon said. "They wanted to do this and make it happen. They did whatever it took to get it done. We were the little part. We couldn't have done it without everybody else. I appreciate the governor coming down. We didn't do it to get the recognition. It was something that needed to be done."