On Wednesday, June 11, three St. Louis Fellows in the Goldman Fellows cohort — Jerry Liao ‘26, Jayden Urioste ‘27, and Briannah Anderson ‘26 — joined a community-wide volunteer day in O’Fallon Park to clean up debris following the May 16 tornado and to build new walking trails.
The volunteer day was led by St. Louis City Forestry, where Liao and Urioste are both interning this summer as part of the St. Louis Fellows Program, in collaboration with other local non-profits such as The Sierra Club, Open Space STL, and the Ozark Trail Association. There were also several independent volunteers such as Anderson, who is also a St. Louis Fellow interning with Great Rivers Environmental Law Center this summer.
“It’s really cool to see how all of these organizations have come together to help this community and restore this lovely park,” said Anderson. “The tornado hit this area really hard, and this is a really beautiful park. As somebody who lives in St. Louis, I think it’s super important that I do what I can and I volunteer when I get the opportunity to help out other communities — especially in times of need like this tornado that just happened.”
The aftermath of the recent tornado left many residential and commercial areas severely damaged, and the St. Louis Forestry Division has led the way in cleaning up fallen trees on public land.
“Lots of times from the tornados there are trees that are broken and the branches when they hang from trees become a particular falling hazard for building and pedestrians passing by. We in the Natural Land Management office [of the St. Louis Forestry Division] deal primarily with the green spaces bringing some livelihood and light back to the communities and thirds spaces for people to be in during this time,” Liao said.
O’Fallon Park is one of the nature sites that the St. Louis Forestry Division typically maintains by weeding and planting new trees, but this volunteer effort was focused on removing fallen trees from the forest and trail treading out a brand-new walking path so the visitors to the park can have more access to natural spaces and local hiking trails.
“I think it’s really important to have that sort of community space or place where people can bond with one another. It helps with mental health as well as physical health getting people out and about and active in the sunlight and nature,” said Urioste.
Outside of their work in tornado relief, Liao and Urioste manage prairie spaces in St. Louis by seeding, cultivating native wildlife, and weeding out invasive species. They also maintain the upkeep of local parks such as Riverfront Park by the Gateway Arch and Peace Park.
This volunteer day is just one of many examples of how the members of the St. Louis community have come together in support of each other following the aftermath of this devastating tornado.
To support the tornado recovery effort in St. Louis or to find resources for recovery, visit the WashU storm recovery efforts webpage.
The St. Louis Fellows Program is offered annually to select WashU undergraduates and is made possible by generous donations to the Gephardt Institute. Learn more here. If you would like to make a gift to support the St. Louis Fellows Program, please click here or contact Amanda Dewees, Executive Director for Philanthropic Strategy, at amanda_dewees@wustl.edu.