Menasha tornado relief: Pleasant Prairie donation drive, scam warning
Menasha tornado donation drive and scam warnings
Donations are streaming in for those affected by the F-3 tornado in Menasha earlier this week. But while plenty of people are helping, there are some taking advantage of the situation.
PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Wis. - Donations are streaming in for those affected by the EF-3 tornado in Menasha earlier this week.
But while plenty of people are helping, there are some taking advantage of the situation.
Pleasant Prairie donation drive
What we know:
A lot of people come to drop-off locations in Pleasant Prairie to give supplies for people in Menasha. There are five locations available where people can drop off donations.
Mary Lewer had the idea for the donation drive and helped organize it.
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Collecting donations
After Menasha was hit by the tornado on Monday afternoon, Lewer sprung into action, and by Wednesday morning, donations were being accepted.
"And then from there, it’s only gone up, so we’re very excited how the community has come together, and it’s very important in times like these that we support each other," Lewer said.
In the excitement of donating, there are people outside of Menasha trying to take them for themselves.
Warning about scams
What we know:
The Menasha Police Department is warning about donation and repair scams online and in person.
Storm damage
Officer Matthew Roe from Menasha said "storm chaser scams" have been an issue during the cleanup process. These are businesses from outside Menasha that give higher than normal quotes for repairs or tree removal and ask for full payment upfront.
To avoid these, Roe said to get repair recommendations from your insurance company, avoid paying fully upfront, and ask for a written contract.
"That’s concerning, and we want to make sure that our residents who are going through a very traumatic time do not have to worry about facing financial problems, next week, next month, dealing with these scams," Roe said.
Storm damage and debris
Money donation scams have also been a problem.
Scammers are requesting money through links and text messages that never actually go toward relief.
The Menasha Police Department said officers have noticed this problem, but no official charges or reports have been filed yet.
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To avoid these scams, Roe said to donate to United Way of Fox Cities, which takes the money and gives it directly to local residents affected by the disaster.
The police department has not seen anyone being directly affected yet, but officers have received many reports of these being an issue.
To make sure supplies go to Menasha, people can come to any of the drop-off locations in Pleasant Prairie. That runs until next Friday at 4 p.m.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Ben Hanson and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from Mary Lewer, Officer Matthew Roe, the Menasha Police Department and United Way of Fox Cities.