Eyl Family Tornado Recovery

On Thursday, June 4, 2015, Lorraine and Bill Eyl's house was taken by a historic tornado. But they lost more than a house -- they lost a home.

Lorraine and Bill Eyl built their house in the country outside of Berthoud in 1972. After migrating to Colorado from the East Coast, following Bill's boyhood cowboy fantasies, the young couple saw an opportunity to create the farm life they'd long envisioned for their young children. 

Since then, through their roles as entrepreneurs and educators, they have contributed a nearly unfathomable amount of love and joy (and no small amount of optimism and animal care) to the surrounding community. They've rehabilitated wild animals and advised wild teenagers, cementing themselves as pillars of the Berthoud-Longmont area. 

Sadly, the pillars (and nearly everything else) were toppled by the irresistible force of a tornado that transformed 43 years of family history into a pile of rubble in an instant.

Fortunately, the combination of good insurance and irrepressible optimism will ensure that the Eyls are not ruined by the experience. However, there are some losses that neither insurance nor optimism will replace. For those losses, we are looking to our incredibly supportive and loving community for help. As the Eyls plan to rebuild on the land they've called home for 43 years, we invite you to participate -- not in an ending, but in a new beginning.

UPDATE 6/11: SO grateful for your generosity.  We've raised the goal again to accommodate more contributions. Again, if we receive more than we need, we will use the rest to help others. 

UPDATE 6/10: Wow! Stunned by the generous responses and donations. We raised the goal again in hopes that, if there's more than the Eyls need, we'll be able to channel this generosity to help others as well. 

UPDATE 6/9: We raised the goal a bit (GoFundMe forces you to set a goal) since we don't actually know what the Eyls will need. However, if we raise more than they need, the rest will be donated to Larimer Humane Society, Berthoud Disaster Fund, and/or other worthy causes.