BELLEVILLE, Ill. — Sometimes the greatest rewards come from the biggest tragedies. It's been exactly one month since 5 On Your Side first reported on a Belleville nonprofit that needed help after high winds ripped down a huge radio tower. The severe storms left MindsEye in desperate need of volunteers.
MindsEye volunteers translate visuals through audio for people who are blind or have low vision. Volunteers record themselves reading news, advertisements, sporting events and more.
But this story of tragedy turned into a story of the power of silver linings.
President and CEO Jason Frazier said when the tower collapsed and shut down their building, they were hoping for fifteen volunteers. Fifty and counting stepped up to the plate.
"You can't discount your blessings of how fortunate we've been in this situation," Frazier said.
He said it's been a whirlwind of the month. Luckily, they've been able to rely on vibrant, longtime volunteers like Catherine Vatterott.
"They tell me it's been 10 years already, I can't believe it! But it's going on eleven I guess," she said.
Vatterott demonstrates the MindsEye mission in entirety.
"I was having eye problems and I thought I was going to go blind. So I thought if I did, what was I going to miss the most, and it would be reading," she said.
It's why she became a volunteer years ago, and why new volunteers like Nick Lang stepped up.
"I saw a good opportunity to help some good people," Lang said. "It's just another day to give back. Everybody is so busy nowadays, but you can make time and it feels good."
Frazier said the tower off Highway 15 is no more.
"Some blessings come in weird ways, and this has been one of them," he said.
But it's a reminder that the hardest days can produce the greatest joys.
"You know you're doing good for others, even though you don't see them, and they never talk to you, you just know it," Vatterott said.
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