On a recent weekday, workers and volunteers at Convoy of Hope’s compassion center in Joplin, Mo., busily sorted products and restocked shelves with food, cleaning products, personal hygiene supplies, baby items, books and toys.

Throughout the day, a steady stream of families quietly snaked their way with shopping carts through the neatly arranged rows of boxes and shelves, picking up what they needed.

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“This is a good place, … it helps a lot of families,” says storm survivor Verna, as she shopped with her husband. “We appreciate it.”

Verna and her husband Stephen leave Convoy of Hope’s Compassion Center with a full cart.

Joyce, another survivor who came to the compassion center, says her family rode out the storm in a front bedroom closet. The storm damaged the back part of their house and destroyed their car, but Joyce is thankful to be alive.

“We opened our front door after the tornado, and there was a house sitting in the middle of the street” says Joyce. “If I live to be 100, I never want to see anything like this again. My husband has lived here all his life and he still cries as he drives down the street.”

An average of 80 families are served each day.

Three children show off their toy of choice while mom fills her grocery cart.

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Beyond the compassion center, Convoy of Hope volunteer teams are fulfilling requests for help with debris removal. Teams of up to 60 people are completing this task at several homes each day, despite temperatures in the upper 90’s.

Convoy of Hope volunteers remove debris for an elderly woman whose roofless home will be demolished.

So far, Convoy of Hope has transported more than 1.5 million pounds of supplies to help those affected by the storm. Volunteers have donated more than 10,000 man-hours to distribute these supplies and help with debris removal.