Rescue workers continue to search for survivors from the massive tornado that ripped through parts of Oklahoma killing dozens of people and flattening whatever was in its path, including a hospital and at least two schools.

The storm system behind yesterday’s twister continues to threaten a large swath of the United States Tuesday, putting 53 million people at risk of severe weather. Click here to see severe weather alerts in your area.

What can you do to help? How can you prepare your business and your employees for the storms ahead? Agility has compiled the following resources to help you, your employees and your family plan, prepare are recover from the storm.

• Helping Oklahoma – If you're looking for ways to help the residents of Oklahoma ravaged by Monday’s tornado, here’s a list of several relief organizations are working in the area.

• Tornado Checklist – Download Agility’s free Tornado Checklist for tips on how to prepare your business before, during and after a storm.

• Red Cross Tornado App – Get your family and home ready for a tornado with the official Tornado App from the American Red Cross.

Disaster Recovery has become a concern for many business owners.  Many local businesses and others have taken the steps to become more involved with their own preparedness by managing their own disaster plan through Agility Recovery. 

Agility Recovery has partnered with your local independent agents at County Wide Insurance Agency.  In fact, the role that Agility Recovery played in keeping power going for County Wide was instrumental in allowing them to perform their claims duties during the devastating 2009 ice storm. 

For more information about the services or to get partnered with the disaster recovery experts at Agility Recovery, contact your County Wide agent, Ed Gargas, Jason Comfort or Alan Hedrick.  They will share with you the value of being prepared.

Submitted by

Beth Farrah, SMT Writer

Sikeston, Missouri - On May 18, the city of Sikeston will be painted red with people performing acts of kindness and service. The over 1000 volunteers will be wearing their free Hope Epidemic t-shirts they received for signing up. This will be the third year for the Hope Epidemic. The organizers see great community impact through this event each year.

"In 2011, we experienced our worst flood in history. Hope Epidemic took place around that same time and we were able to provide support to the flood victims. This had a ripple effect," says Brad Aycock, one of the organizers.

The volunteers will be serving in many different ways on the 18th, including visits to local nursing homes, taking treats to emergency personnel workers, cleaning up local parks and streets, to name a few. They've added some new projects for this year.

"We'll be providing free groceries to the first 500 people to show up between 9am and 2pm at either of the two distribution points, First Nazarene Church and Lincoln Park. All you have to do is show up," says Aycock. "We will also be building a new gazebo in Lincoln Park. This gazebo will be called the Martin Luther King Hope Pavilion and will be used for events throughout the year." Single moms who have been pre-approved will be getting free oil changes at Tanner Street Church of God.

The day begins with a free breakfast and t-shirt pickup for all volunteers from 7:30-8:30am at First United Methodist Church. Beginning at 8:30, the volunteers will disperse to begin serving on their projects until noon. The event will climax at noon with a free lunch at Lincoln Park for the entire community. There will also be live music. "Everyone is invited to come and eat for free from noon-2pm."

This event is a collaborative effort of fourteen local churches. Funding for Hope Epidemic has been provided by many area businesses and churches. Anyone can serve and is encouraged to signup at hopeepidemic.org. The first 1000 to pre-register will receive a free t-shirt.

"There are no strings attached. We will accept nothing in return. Very few things in the world are free anymore. On May 18th, we'll start the epidemic that we hope will continue. This army of volunteers is passionate about changing the world; beginning right here in SE Missouri," says Aycock.

For more info visit hopeepidemic.org or call 573.421.1824.

Dexter, Missouri - Each year freshman enter the doors of Dexter Senior High School, some are excited, some are scared, some have an attitude of can't wait to get out of high school or possibly they are ready to buckle down and study hard.  No matter how they were feeling, Mr. Mouser had the pleasure of speaking to this year's graduating class on their first day of high school.

He said something like this, "In four years you will have blinked and high school will be gone."  No one really believed him at that time, that's a lifetime away, four years is so long.  Well now that the time has come for those students to graduate, this reporter asked a few, "Do you remember that speech?"

To my surprise they did and they all agreed that these four years flew by and it seemed like only yesterday they were freshman sitting in the auditorium listening to Mr. Mouser talk about high school and all that it had to offer them.

This past Sunday, May 12th, I sat through my first high school Baccalaureate Service since I graduated high school so many years ago.  It was also Mother's Day. 

The class chose their motto to be "Remember Yesterday, Dream for Tomorrow, Live for Today".  They are right I remembered my past, I have dreams and I truly live for today.  Most of us do this without thinking.  These students are young, but they already know that life is short and they have to make each day count.

Reverend Ken Biggs from the First General Baptist Church greeted the students and introduced Revered Mike Kohlbaker from the First Assembly of God Church to offer prayer to the students and performed the invocation.

Miss Taylor Winstead did an extraordinary job reading scripture from passages such as Joshua 1:9 and Jeremiah 29:11-13.  The 2013 Class speaker was Miss Brook Duckworth who also did an amazing job talking to the students and assuring them of the future.

David Dohogne of Sacred Heart Catholic Church was the main speaker and his inspirational presentation of the Bible being compared to a recipe book was exceptional.  I am sure the students could relate easily to his story.

Students were given the opportunity to submit a baby photo and senior photo for the class video presentation.  There were many parents and students laughing, some shedding tears, and some were merely holding back.  It was all great and most of the moms were doing pretty well fighting off the tears until Joseph Greer took the stage and sang his song, "I'm Not Gonna Cry".  Well that did it for many us and the tears flowed.  Thank you Joseph!

Brooke Duckworth ended the beautiful ceremony with a closing prayer and a reception followed in the Fellowship Hall of the First Assembly of God Church.

It is our hope that each year students will feel they are not only welcome to participate in Baccalaureate Service, but that it is an honor to have each and every student there.  We wish all of the students a safe and successful life.

Congratulations to the Class of 2013!

Dexter, Missouri - Former DHS graduate has raised a family, worked hard and after four long years, earned her degree at Southeast Missouri State University. 

Mrs. Jennifer Koenig, formerly Jennifer Johns, not only earned a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with a major in Organizational Administration, she graduated Summa Cum Laude!  Way to go Jennifer!

She is also a member of Phi Kappa Phi (Honors Organization), Beta Gamma Sigma (Business Honors Organization) and SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise Organization) at Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

When Jennifer graduated from Dexter in 2009, she had no idea what was in store for her as she headed off to college. 

And to add more to her amazing story, she has raised the most precious two year old little boy, Benjamin, while attending Southeast Missouri State University along side of her husband, Jarod.

What there's more to this story? Yes, her husband, Jarod Koenig, also graduated from Southeast Missouri State University this week.  He earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management/Human Resources with minors in Finance and Spanish.  He also held the honor of Summa Cum Laude and is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Beta Gamma Sigma and Phi Eta Sigma. 

Jarod graduated Valedictorian at Saxony Lutheran High School in 2009 and is the son of Brian and Dianna Koenig of Perryville.  He has a younger brother, Ryan and an older brother, Tyson, who lives in Jackson, Mississippi.  Jarod is employed by the Cultural Exchange Network (CENET) in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Jennifer is the daughter of Kevin and Janet Johns of Dudley.  She has a younger brother, Caleb, and sister, Emily.  She is also employed by the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Jackson, Missouri.

These two young people are extremely dedicated not only to their education, but their family and to their faith in God.

We congratulate both of them and wish them great success! 

^{Written by}

^{Beth Farrah, SMT Writer}

Dexter, Missouri - The Dexter Chamber of Commerce will be the May Business After Hours event at Four Oaks Hospice with the theme “May Flowers”. The event will take place tomorrow (Tuesday), May 14^th at 5pm-6:30pm. Four Oaks Hospice is located at 1615 Business 60 West, Suite B in Dexter.

This will be a great event that you will not want to miss!

The upcoming Business After Hours for the summer will be hosted by Productive Staffing (June 11^th), National Title and Escrow (July 9^th), First National Bank (August 13^th), and Select Physical Therapy (September 10^th).