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Danforth to lead fundraising effort for Joplin

Aerial footage taken two days after an EF-5 tornado pummeled Joplin shows the destruction to the city's Home Depot. John Danforth has announced he will head a new foundation designed to get businesses to relocate or expand in Joplin.
(UPI/Tom Uhlenbrock)
Aerial footage taken two days after an EF-5 tornado pummeled Joplin shows the destruction to the city's Home Depot. John Danforth has announced he will head a new foundation designed to get businesses to relocate or expand in Joplin.

A former Republican Senator from Missouri is leading a new non-profit organization that will offer business loans to businesses who want to build or expand in Joplin.

John Danforth called the Joplin Tomorrow Foundation a complement to programs offered by the Small Business Association, which go to businesses that already existed in Joplin before the May 22 EF-5 tornado. The Danforth family's foundation contributed $500,000 to the event, and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce chipped in $25,000.

The SBA programs, which help restore businesses to the status quo, is a wonderful program, Danforth said.

" But can we go beyond that? And can the private sector be part of creating our own future as a community?” he said.

The Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce says the storm obliterated 450 businesses, and left 4,500 people without jobs. The storm also killed 154 people.