Local couple volunteering in Henryville

During weekends spent in the Clark County area, Wendell and Sandy Barger have seen the destruction of the March 2 tornadoes, including the countless downed trees Wendell has cut up and the shell of a building that was Henryville High School.

Not content to sit on the sidelines while others suffered, a local couple has become part of the relief efforts in southern Indiana.

Wendell and Sandy Barger will make their fourth trip to the Henryville area this weekend as the area continues to cope with the aftermath of a March 2 tornado outbreak.

"My wife and I have always wanted to help, but circumstances never came out to where we were able to," Wendell Barger said, "but this time we just decided we were going to do it no matter what."

They made their first trip south eight days after the tornado, registering with the Red Cross and taking a safety course.

Since then, they've spent every other weekend somewhere in or near Clark County, sawing up trees, working in a supply warehouse, walking farm fields to pick up debris and pretty much anything else asked of them.

The Bargers have also tried to make each trip more productive by taking supplies to the area. Anyone interested in donating non-perishable item may contact Wendell at (812) 201-1044 or Sandy at (812) 878-5051.

Wendell said people may also contact his employer Dixie Chopper at 246-6191.

"Dixie Chopper's been pretty good helping me out," he said. "They've given me a truck any time I needed it and bought my gas. With the way things are, that gas helped me out a lot.

"With me and my wife spending the weekends down there, getting a hotel room and food -- it runs into some money. The way we look at it is, we've got it, those people don't."

He said they need to remind themselves of one simple fact.

"It could have very well been us."

And the real payoff is knowing their assistance is going to people who truly need it.

"It's all worth it when you go down there to a person's house and help them clean up their place and they shake your hand and they say, 'Thank you for being here.' It kind of touches your heart," Wendell said.