Officials of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce have presented the first installment of a special fund to their counterparts in the tornado-stricken town of Moore, Okla.
The Joplin Globe reports the $20,000 in donations delivered Saturday are intended to help the Moore Chamber of Commerce start its own business recovery fund.
A similar initiative was launched in Joplin after 530 employers were affected by the EF5 tornado that flattened much of the city in May 2011. Joplin Chamber president Rob O’Brian says 450 of those businesses are back in operation.
Brenda Roberts, president of the Moore Chamber, says there’s no final tally yet of the businesses and jobs affected by the EF5 that killed 24 people in the Oklahoma community last week.