National Disaster Photo Rescue was founded in response to the devastating Joplin tornado of May 22, 2011.
Who We Are:
Mission Statement
National Disaster Photo Rescue is dedicated to the preservation and return of lost photos after disaster, thus building renewed strength and hope by reuniting communities with treasured memories thought to have been destroyed.
PAST and Continuing forward
The National Disaster Photo Rescue began as the ‘Lost Photos of Joplin’ Facebook page. This page was started by a person wanting to help return personal displaced (lost) photographs and documents to victims of the May 22, 2011 Joplin, Missouri EF-5 Tornado that destroyed 1/3 of the town, over 5,000 structures, and claimed 161 lives. At the same time, the First Baptist Church of Carthage, Missouri (9 miles from Joplin) had volunteers wanting to help the Joplin community. Volunteers from disaster service groups had begun to collect photographs found in the debris and were taking them to a make-shift repository at the local public library.
The First Baptist Church, led by a Pastoral staff member, organized the Facebook page, disaster volunteers, public library, and church volunteers to centralize the collection of the photographs to a local bank with multiple locations. Then, the photos and documents were brought back to the church where church and community volunteers dried, cleaned, organized, digitally scanned, gave a unique individual catalog number, and posted on the Facebook page for victims to view and claim the property through a claim form. Over the course of 2 years, over 35,000 photographs were recovered and processed. Reunification events were held monthly with trained community staff to set with those claiming property to receive their photographs and documents while providing counseling and additional community resources for those in need, all FREE of charge.
As a result of many months and hundreds of volunteer community hours, 900 Joplin families received photographs as a result of the work. Over 18,000 photographs have gone back to their original owners and hundreds of documents. Returning these photos and documents brought many families and individuals closure and mental healing no matter what stage of grief they may be in. One single photograph may be all that a family had to put in a new home, but it wasn’t home without the photo. As media attention gathered, the collective group decided that the work needed to continue in other communities after the Joplin tornado. As a result, the name National Disaster Photo Rescue was chosen to gain attention while helping other communities. It continued to be housed in the First Baptist Church until the end of 2018.
The National Disaster Photo Rescue has responded to natural disasters in Moore, Oklahoma, Baxter Springs, Kansas, Van, Texas, Garland and Rowlett, Texas, and several other communities while providing support to Tsunami victims in Japan, flood victims in Colorado and Canada as well as hurricane victims along the coast of the U.S..
PRESENT and continuing forward
Today, the National Disaster Photo Rescue continues to respond to victims of disaster regionally and provides support nationally to all who call for help, FREE of charge. In 2019, Phase 2 began. Photo Preservation, Phase 2, is designed to prevent photograph and document loss before a natural or man-made disaster hits a community. Using high-speed, high-resolution imaging scanners, teams can scan hundreds and even thousands of historical family and community images a day and digitally store for the owners, FREE of charge. This process has begun with local first responder teams (i.e. firefighters, police, sheriff, EMT, etc.). Since they are on the front lines, working during a disaster, emergency personnel may not be able to save their own photographic memories from disaster. By partnering with first responders, National Disaster Photo Rescue is promoting community awareness of the valuable images of life and community held within each home and business as well as the emotional connection we have within the photographs as a sense of belonging to something bigger than ourselves.
The Preservation Phase will continue to spread as a follow-up to communities helped as a result of disaster first. Then, targeted communities that are disadvantaged or impoverished within disaster prone zones will be served. As the work moves nationally, this phase will create awareness of preservation across the United States. Volunteers from local historical societies, archivists, and local libraries with be sought out as resources within the targeted communities.
FUTURE
Restoration, Phase 3 is the future of National Disaster Photo Rescue. This work will focus on the digital restoration of photographic heirlooms that have been damaged due to water, fire, or fading, FREE of charge. Most of the work will be the result of response to disasters. This work is ever changing and will evolve as the technology advances to digitally restore and reprint photographs. As it has already been discovered, this work is in great need. Additional funding and resources will have to be part of this advancement within the organization.
National Disaster Photo Rescue is…worth a thousand words because the photographs we save are worth more than a thousand words.
Thad Beeler