EDEN, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Eden community continues to pick up the pieces from the tornado that touched down on July 10.
"Buildings just destroyed, and my heart went out to those people because it was sad to see and nobody should ever have to go through that," said Jeff Winter, President of the Eden Corn Festival.
The festival, which has brought the community together for the past 60 years, began on Thursday afternoon and organizers are doing their part and helping to raise money for the Eden Tornado Relief Fund.
The Fund was established through the joint effort of the town, the chamber of commerce and the community foundation as the community continues to pick up the pieces from the tornado that touched down on July 10.
All gifts qualify as charitable donations and you can find more information on donating below.
"It's a great community, a great town, we all come together for a big event like this," said Dean Nelipowitz, Eden's Assistant Fire Chief.
Nelipowitz and firefighters Chris Greely and Jayden Bellomo all responded to the tornado.
"Total mind-blowing, something I've never seen before in my life as a firefighter," said Greely.
They helped the community the day of the tornado and they're continuing to help the community during the festival. They're responsible for all the sweet corn being cooked.
"These guys are 24/7, when the whistle blows they're on it, they're all over it," said Winter.
"It's amazing the community response that we had from everybody and it's greatly appreciated...neighbors helping neighbors," said Greely.
This is not the only effort to help the residents impacted.
We spoke to Jeffrey Walker, Owner of Rayzor's Dawg House on Main Street in Eden, who was doing his part by collecting and matching donations made.
We also spoke to Michelle Gonter, founder and president of the Eden Farmer’s Market, who was accepting donations.
“We are doing the best we can to help out, every little bit helps,” Gonter said. “I saw the utter devastation of my direct neighbors' [properties] and knew immediately this is something we had to do to help them.”
