London, Kentucky Tornado Disaster Relief

On May 16, 2025, an EF4 Tornado hit London, KY killing 19 people, destroying or damaging more than 400 homes, and displacing hundreds of families. These families need resources over the next year to rebuild physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. These families are people we know personally. The Sheppard Family has lived in London, Kentucky, for more than 25 years. This is our home. The people hurting are people we see everyday.

In 2024, we started The Sheppard Family Foundation(SFF) to love, serve, strengthen, and equip families by helping them develop as leaders, reduce physical needs, engage with education programs, access sport/wellness opportunities, and mature in Christian faith. Our 501(c)(3) application was filed with the IRS in December of last year, thus our federal nonprofit status is pending. However, all the foundation’s administrative costs have been underwritten, meaning every penny generated through this fundraiser will go directly to help families in London and Laurel County, Kentucky.

In response to the recent devastation from the tornado, the SFF will be distributing funds directly to individuals and families to help them reduce their physical needs that have resulted from this major tragedy in our community. SFF needs the assistance of GoFundMe.org to quickly establish an effective and efficient online donation channel that enables the hundreds of people who have reached out to us to contribute to helping the hundreds of families directly impacted by the Laurel County tornado.

As stated earlier, London is our home. We love this community and are committed to helping rebuild it—as long as that takes. We are grateful for GoFundMe.org’s wonderful platform and willingness to partner with us in this difficult time.

To donate via DAF, please select the DAF Pay option as the payment method once you click 'donate now' on this page. If you would like to donate to this Fund via stock, ACH/wire, crypto, check, or by Private Foundation please visit https://www.gofundme.org/off-platform-donations/ and we will add your donation to this fund as an offline donation so that your contribution is recognized on this Fund page.

GoFundMe.org is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 81-2279757) that works to swiftly mobilize donations raised to support individuals and communities impacted by crises, natural disasters, and social inequalities. We accept tax-deductible donations from donors into funds created for a specific philanthropic purpose. From these funds, we issue grants to charitable classes of individuals, nonprofit organizations, and charitable projects.

Donations to this fund are tax-deductible to the extent permissible by U.S. law. Money will be given to verified charitable needs at the discretion of GoFundMe.org.