ROCHELLE — Following an April 9, 2015 EF4 tornado that damaged 179 structures in Ogle County and destroyed 20-30 homes in rural Rochelle after winds reached over 200 miles per hour, then-Rochelle Area Community Foundation Executive Director Kim Montgomery knew someone had to step up to assist with the fundraising work that was going to take place.

“Everyone was in shock,” Montgomery said. “I knew people were going to want to make contributions to help those affected. I called our RACF board chairman about responding to it and getting involved. The board was in favor of stepping up as an organization that would accept contributions to support the people affected by the tornado. I think we held that money and distributed it actively for about a year. We didn’t immediately see who was going to do that for people here. So we decided to step up.”

In the year that followed the tornado, RACF opened a fund for the long-term recovery and collected $542,823.83. Donations came in from individuals locally and across the country and many organizations in the state.

The Rochelle Area Community Foundation raises funds for various dedicated community causes and provides caretaker services for the funds. It was established in 2005 for donors big and small. 

“Raising that kind of money and doing it in that way was different for us,” Montgomery said. “RACF typically handles specific funds that are invested and not given right away. There wasn’t another local organization that was ready and able to help like RACF was. It was daunting to step into that role. We were all volunteers when we were working on all of that. I learned a lot. I was very thankful to do it and that we had so many other organizations and people to help. We all just put our heads down and worked.”

The fundraising and organization work became more than RACF expected with donations flooding in. Montgomery said the Rochelle nonprofit sought guidance from the Council on Foundations and other community foundations in Illinois that had done similar work helping with disasters.

The funds were dispersed using a Red Cross system where affected residents did interviews on the losses they suffered that resulted in reports. RACF established committees of community members that resourced items besides money that were needed and reviewed cases of those affected and assigned funding for them. 

All of the funding distribution was done anonymously to ensure fairness. 

“It was a complicated process, but we were lucky to have the resources we had,” Montgomery said. “In the end it worked out well and we wouldn’t have done it any other way. Because it was anonymous, we didn’t know who was getting the money. It was all confidential. But we could all see the rebuilding and recovery. I just felt good that we were able to help. My role was just to help with making sure things were organized and that we were keeping records and I helped to lead the committees that worked on it.”

Montgomery called the donations that came in for the relief fund “overwhelming.” Large amounts of mail were seen and donations small and large came from all over the United States and outside the country. 

“Money came from people that didn’t even know anyone in Rochelle or anything about the city,” Montgomery said. “I was blown away by the generosity. And we obviously had some big donors locally and so many people helped out from here.”

RACF held onto the remaining funds until two years passed and used what was left over to establish a fund for future disaster relief. Montgomery called the experience as a whole and seeing the community come together “absolutely amazing.”

Montgomery was part-time in her position at RACF. After working her regular 20 hours a week, she continued to volunteer on the tornado disaster relief project along with the board members and other community volunteers that helped with it. She estimates she worked 12-14-hour days for seven days a week for about six months on the project. Montgomery retired from RACF in 2021.

“It’s up there in terms of things I’m proudest of from my time at RACF,” Montgomery said. “In terms of impact, it’s the most impactful work we did. That experience and my entire experience with RACF as a whole made me feel really good about Rochelle. The people’s generosity and the way they pulled together to try to help others and make them feel whole again was heartwarming. Rochelle is a great community and its leadership was fabulous and great to work with.”