Wadena closing volunteer center as tornado cleanup winds down
by Tom Robertson, Minnesota Public RadioSt. Paul, Minn. — Storm cleanup in Wadena is winding down and officials in Wadena say they plan to close down the city's volunteer center.
Beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday the city will no longer accept walk-in volunteers to help with cleanup from tornados that struck the town June 17.
Wadena city spokeswoman Judy Jacobs said volunteers have already finished much of the general cleanup work.
"The response has been just incredible," Jacobs said. "Up to this point we've had about 3,000 volunteers in town, and I checked on the population of Wadena and it's 4,300, so we've had almost a volunteer for every man, woman and child in the area, so the response has been absolutely incredible."
Jacobs said the community averaged close to 400 volunteers per day. She said organized groups of volunteers are still being accepted on a limited basis, but those groups will have to provide their own supervision.
