CIPD officers load a trailer with disaster relief for Kentucky. (BROOKLYN BROWN/One Feather photos)
By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
LONDON, Ky. – On the afternoon of Friday, May 30, Cherokee Indian Police Department (CIPD) Resource Inventory Coordinator Robbie Brown delivered pallets of water, meals ready to eat (MREs), heaters, towels, and more to London, Ky., by way of a Cherokee Tribal Emergency Management trailer provided by Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Secretary of Operations Anthony Sequoyah. The haul was in response to a severe and fatal tornado outbreak across Kentucky this May.
“We are grateful to Anthony Sequoyah for collaborating with us and making it possible to provide disaster relief for the community of one of our vendors, Don Franklin Auto Group,” said CIPD Chief of Police Carla Neadeau.
Jerry Goodman, Robbie Brown, and Kenny Isaacs are shown with a loaded trailer of relief items for London, Ky. Goodman and Isaacs, both supply runners for Don Franklin Auto Group, brought the trailer back to Cherokee from London.
“Don Franklin Auto Group also sent supplies from Kentucky to Cherokee and other communities in western North Carolina in response to Hurricane Helene, so we wanted to do the same for them.”
CIPD Assistant Chief of Police Josh Taylor thanked Brown for making the trip. “Robbie’s late mother, Diane Brown, led missions in poor Appalachian communities that provided similar assistance – clothes, food, shelter – so I think it is meaningful that he was able to do something similar in this instance, for a community that also serves CIPD.”
On May 17, London, Ky., was leveled by an EF-4 tornado with winds of 170 mph in a 55.6-mile-long path across Pulaski and Laurel counties. 19 people were killed in the outbreak, with most fatalities occurring in the path of the EF-4, the deadliest tornado in the history of their County Warning Area (CWA).
Don Franklin Auto Group has become a donation hub for relief as the counties work to rebuild after disaster. They can be found on Facebook at Don Franklin Auto.
