The rural town of De Kalb, TX, with a population of about 2,000, was not expecting any outsiders to help them recover from the damage incurred by tornadoes and straight-line winds in January 2018.

The tornadoes destroyed homes, chicken coops and damaged a church.

“We'd walk through the grocery store to get a snack, and people would stop us, shake our hands and say, ‘Thank you for what you're doing here.'” said Stan Waite, Minuteman volunteer from North Richland Hills, TX.

Volunteers were stationed in De Kalb for 6 days and spent most of their time removing debris in and around people's homes and property.