2024 tornado outbreak: Elkhorn church helping reunite victims with lost keepsakes

ELKHORN, Neb. (WOWT) - A collage of people’s lives sits in the lobby of The Relevant Center.

“Even if it’s a teeny tiny piece of a picture,” volunteers are saving it.

Among the rescued keepsakes sits a torn, heartfelt, handwritten letter from a struggling mom of two children, which reads like a breath of fresh air: “I have not felt this good in years.”

“I know someone saved that letter for a reason,” volunteer Janet Dragon said.

Since Friday, Dragon has been cleaning off muddy pictures and helping people reclaim lost artifacts.

Among the tables of saved photographs are rescued drawings, military dog tags, and saved elementary school assignments. There’s a newspaper clipping from 1964 about then-18-year-old Harvey Ramsey returning to high school school after taking a year off to work.

“This means something to somebody,” said Dragon as she held up the article.

With the help of volunteers and community members collecting memories, the church has become a refuge, a lost and found for family history.

Since losing her home in a tornado, it’s a place where Kris Bicking goes every day now. Tuesday afternoon, she found a family photo.

“We found this picture of my nieces and nephews when they were little,” said Bicking.

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Each day, new photos appear on the tables for families to find.

“When you see something on the table and you’re like, ‘Oh my God. That’s mine.’ It’s like you just found a long-lost treasure,” said Bicking.

There’s also a set of golf clubs, a bottle of perfume, and a wedding dress among the pile.

“You don’t throw that away, because maybe that’s all they got,” said Bicking.

It may not be theirs but it could belong to someone they know.

“That’s my neighbor!” said Bicking as she looked through the tables. “I’ll have to let them know to tell her to come down here.”

For the Perry family, all that’s left is their home’s foundation and the basement closet that saved their lives. Then she was told to go to The Relevant Center.

“I lost all my other pictures,” said Jackie Perry. “But this was the one I wanted,” she said while holding up an 11-member family portrait.

She might not have a wall to hang it, but that doesn’t matter.

“What was important Friday morning when I got up and went to work, it was nothing as the things are today,” said Bicking.

More and more as recovery continues, lost memories are being found.

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