How to Help

Volunteer Fox Cities is the region's volunteer coordination organization, and the route Outagamie County directs people to for tornado response.

They have posted dedicated Volunteer Tornado Response Information and connect individuals, groups and companies with the nonprofits that actually need hands.

Register through them rather than self-deploying. Organized crews get sent where the need is, arrive with the right equipment, and are covered by insurance.

United Way Fox Cities has opened a Tornado Recovery — Community Response Fund taking donations for storm recovery across the Fox Cities.

Why money rather than goods. It sounds cold next to a truckload of supplies, but cash lets relief groups buy exactly what is short, locally, from businesses that were damaged, with no sorting, storage or hauling cost. Donated goods have to be received, sorted and warehoused by the same volunteers who would otherwise be helping survivors.

This is an established local organization, which matters right now — fake relief funds appear within 48 hours of every disaster and this one is well past that mark. Before giving to any other fundraiser, read the warnings in the Avoid Scams section.

Donate online at the link, or call with questions.

Volunteer Fox Cities is not asking the general public to report to the Volunteer Reception Center. Large-scale public volunteering wound down after Monday evening.

The centre on Midway Road is still open, but it is coordinating specialist volunteers and groups that were arranged in advance — not walk-ins. Turning up will not get you assigned, and it takes staff away from the crews already working.

This is normal, and it is not a sign that help is no longer needed. The first week of a disaster needs many hands at once. The months after it need fewer people doing specific things, arranged ahead. The work has not stopped; it has changed shape.

What to do instead

• Register with Volunteer Fox Cities at the link below and wait to be called. They say plainly that if large-scale public help is needed again, they will announce it through their own channels.
• Register with Crisis Cleanup if you have chainsaw, roofing or heavy-labour skills — that is the route for the specific work still being assigned.
• Give money rather than time or goods. It remains the most useful thing at this stage, through United Way Fox Cities.
• Check on your own neighbours, particularly anyone elderly, alone or medically fragile. That never needs coordinating.

Please do not self-deploy into damaged areas. Untrained help around unstable trees and downed conductors creates casualties, and the hospital is already reporting a rise in cleanup injuries.

Share what you saw

Volunteer Fox Cities is collecting people's accounts of the response — over 6,000 people came through the Volunteer Reception Center in the first week alone, and they are gathering those stories before they fade.

If you volunteered, donated, led a team, or simply saw someone do something worth remembering, you can share it at volunteerfoxcities.org/tornado.vol.stories.

It is not a substitute for the work, and nobody should pretend otherwise. But if you were turned away from the centre and have been looking for a way to be useful, this one costs nothing and is genuinely wanted.

Community Clothes Closet is still listed by Winnebago County as a pickup point for clothing and supplies for those in need. If you lost clothing in the storm, or cannot get to what you own, go and take what you need.

Client shopping hours: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 10:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m., and Monday evening 6:00 – 7:45 p.m.

The extra storm hours they ran in the first week (29–31 July) have ended — these are their normal hours. Worth confirming before a long trip.

Their phones are not working reliably since the storm. If a call does not go through, email [email protected] instead.

To donate: they need essential clothing and financial gifts to keep up with demand. Donation hours are Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and Monday evening 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Gunderson Cleaners also accepts donations on their behalf — preferably in bags rather than boxes, three bags maximum.

The Community Response Fund — 2026 Tornado Relief was activated July 28, 2026, in response to the July 27 tornado. It is a partnership between the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, United Way Fox Cities, and the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation.

The fund is focused on two equally important goals:

• Meeting the immediate and longer-term needs of community members affected
• Sustaining the organizational capacity of the groups doing the recovery and response work

Grants support nonprofits serving residents across Outagamie, Calumet, Shawano, Waupaca, and the Neenah–Menasha area of Winnebago counties. Priority goes to organizations serving those facing the greatest barriers to recovery — including older adults, people with disabilities, low-income households, individuals experiencing homelessness, and non-English-speaking families.

Who can apply: 501(c)(3) nonprofits, fiscally sponsored groups, and churches or other public entities able to receive tax-deductible contributions. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed weekly; you may reapply as needs evolve.

Questions about applying: [email protected] or 920-702-7640.

Les Stumpf Ford is offering two forms of help to anyone affected by the storm.

Free shuttle service. If you cannot get to a doctor's appointment or pick up essential prescriptions, call and ask for Shuttle Service. Transportation is provided within the Fox Valley for essential medical needs.

Donation drop-off and pick-up. Stop by during business hours to donate, or to pick up supplies if you need them. They are collecting and distributing:

• Bottled water
• Cleaning supplies and disinfecting wipes
• Work gloves
• Contractor trash bags
• Paper towels and toilet paper
• Flashlights and batteries
• Diapers and baby wipes
• Non-perishable food
• Gift cards (grocery, gas and home improvement)

Organized teams get routed to households that requested help, arrive with the right equipment, carry insurance, and are supervised by people who know what a compromised tree or a live service drop looks like.

• Crisis Cleanup (844-965-1386) coordinates the relief organizations working the area — contact them about joining a team
• Local churches and service clubs are usually organizing crews within days; watch community Facebook groups
• 211 can connect you with volunteer needs as they are registered

If you do volunteer: bring heavy gloves, boots with puncture-resistant soles, eye protection, long sleeves, and your own water. Make sure your tetanus shot is current.

For those interested in volunteering, Volunteer Fox Cities is still assessing community needs and determining where volunteer support will be most helpful. In the meantime, sign up for the Tornado Volunteer Standby List — your name will be added to a list to be contacted once more specific opportunities are known.

When registering:

• Select yes when asked whether you want to be called upon in the event of a disaster
• Include any tasks, resources, or assistance you are able to offer
• Note any relevant skills, certifications, disaster training, or equipment you have — this helps match volunteers to needs as they are identified

Please be patient and wait for a specific call to action. Do not show up to affected areas unless instructed. Local emergency management is still determining where help is needed most.

Blood on the shelf is what treats injuries today — donations made now replenish supply for the coming weeks. Storms also cause blood drives to be canceled across a wide area, so shortages tend to follow disasters even where nobody was hurt.

• American Red Cross: 1-800-RED-CROSS or redcrossblood.org
• Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin operates donation centers across the Fox Valley

Schedule an appointment rather than walking in — centers are busy after a disaster.

These are the locations Winnebago County currently lists as accepting donated items:

• Dairy-Air Brewing — 217 S Main St, Seymour
• Gunderson Cleaners — any of their Fox Valley locations. They take clothing donations on behalf of the Community Clothes Closet
• Kunes RV of Green Bay — 1751 Wildwood Dr, Suamico, during business hours
• Life Church, Appleton campus — 222 W Franklin St, Appleton

Call ahead if you possibly can. What each site can take changes from week to week, and a site that is full has to turn things away or store them at its own cost.

Money goes further than goods

Relief organizers have been consistent about this since the first week, and it is not a brush-off. Cash lets an agency buy exactly what a specific family needs, in the right size, at the right moment — and it does not need sorting, storing or transporting by volunteers who are already stretched.

Give through United Way Fox Cities.

If you have something specific and substantial

Large, high-value or unusual items — appliances, building materials, furniture in quantity, a vehicle — are worth a phone call rather than a drive. Contact United Way Fox Cities or 211 and describe what you have. Matching a big item to the household that needs it works far better than dropping it at a collection point.

Anything genuinely worn out, broken or dirty should go to the tip rather than a donation site. Sorting unusable donations is a real cost that falls on volunteers.