MONETTE, Ark. (NewsNation Now) — A 94-year-old man was killed inside a rural Arkansas nursing home, one of two people to lose their lives in the state after tornadoes tore through the region.

At the height of the storm Friday, elderly residents at Monette Manor were quickly moved to shelter. Golden Hembry, a Korean war veteran and COVID-19 survivor, was in a hallway when the roof caved in. 

“He’d talk a little bit about his service, but not much,” said his brother Jimmie Hembry. “He wouldn’t talk about it unless you would just bring it up.”

Jimmie Hembry, 82, said he raced to the nursing home through swirling debris before finding out his brother did not survive the storm.

“He come back and he said, ’Golden didn’t make it,'” said his nephew Michael Hembrey. “We said ‘What?’ He said it again … and he went to crying.”

On Sunday, the nursing home was surrounded by workers cleaning up, many of them volunteers. Some said they’re wondering how anyone survived.

“Wheelchairs out in the street, in the road, in the ditch … It hurts to see the nursing home like that,” said volunteer Matthew Benavides. “It’s painful to watch something like that.” 

Only five people were injured at the nursing home. Staff used their own bodies as human shields Friday night to protect residents from the deadly tornado.

By Sunday evening, some displaced residents were back with their families. Others had been moved to other nursing homes in the area.

The co-owner of the Monette Manor nursing home is now talking about how to rebuild.

“It’s been a part of the community for many, many, many years, and we can’t even think about it not being,”  
said Rick Sampson.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson declared a state of emergency for the area.

“Probably the most remarkable thing is there’s not a greater loss of life,” Hutchinson said.

The other fatality in the state occurred inside a Dollar Store in Leachville.

NEOSHO, Mo. — Toys for Tots is making sure kids in Newton and McDonald counties have something under their tree this year.

Toy distribution began Saturday at Monark Southern Baptist Church in Neosho.

Officials estimate nearly 150 families and close to 700 children are taking part this season.

Major donors include the Walmart distribution center in Pineville, Love’s Travel Stop and many local businesses.

“It’s always rewarding,” said Toys for Tots coordinator Felicia Goswick. “It’s a busy time, but to know that we’re helping so many children in need, it’s a good thing… it takes an army to be able to do this.”

Goswick has been coordinating the local Toys for Tots program for three years.

She says Monark Southern Baptist Church has hosted the program for over a decade and around 20 volunteers were on hand to help out Saturday.

NEOSHO, Mo. — The Newton County Food Basket Brigade hosted a community-wide pickup Saturday morning.

Area volunteers collected non-perishable items and brought them to the Newton County Fairgrounds to be sorted ahead of next Saturday’s distribution day.

Food was collected from residences, local businesses and local schools.

Officials expect to provide food for nearly 950 families this year.

“You see a lot of people that you know and a lot of people that you help,” said Gary Moon, president of the Newton County Food Basket Brigade. “We also have about 250 people per household that we do home delivery for that are handicapped, so just knowing that they’re going to have a good meal for the holidays and enough food to last them–we predict about two weeks is what we try to provide for them.”

Distribution will take place as a drive-thru pickup Saturday, December 18th, at the Newton County Fairgrounds.

JOPLIN, Mo. — Local businesses are partnering together to help find local pets forever homes.

The Joplin Humane Society welcomed back it’s annual Holiday Open House adoption event.

The Joplin branch of Ducommun Incorporated returned as the sponsor for this year’s open house.

Thanks to it’s sponsorship, the adoption fees for the entire day were waived.

“I’m definitely a strong animal advocate, and i have a very supportive management team that says ‘Yeah that sounds like a great idea, go right ahead and get out there,'” says Jennifer Essex, Ducommun HR Business Partner.

“When we are able to do fee-waived adoptions, it definitely brings people in. It gives those people an opportunity to use the money they would have spent on the adoption fee to spend on things to spoil their new furry friend,” says Tianna Fischer, Joplin Humane Society Shelter Services Manager.

At last year’s open house, Ducommun sponsored 27 adoptions.

JOPLIN, Mo. — As the school year comes to an end, Missouri college students are celebrating the culmination of their academic careers.

Today students and their families made their way Leggett and Platt Athletic Center, for the 77th commencement ceremony at Missouri Southern State University.

The celebration highlighted the accomplishments of 348 graduates over their college careers.

As opposed to a typical graduation ceremony, this was the third semester to feature a walk-through ceremony.

“Two different sessions today, that way we can spread the graduates out throughout a few hours during the day,” says Heather Lesmeister, MSSU Dir. of Communications & External Relations, “We’re able to do it that way to still social distance as much as much as we can and allow there to be less people in the vicinity of a certain time, and it’s a great way to still have a celebration and some normalcy for our students.”

There were a total of 382 undergraduate, 48 associate’s and 33 masters degrees earned by this semester’s graduating class.

GALENA, Ks. — On Saturday Christpoint Church opened its doors for its seventh Free Christmas Store.

While children had the chance to eat breakfast with Santa, parents took the time to shop for toys, socks, pajamas and coats, all for free.

The event started seven years ago to help provide in-need families with gifts for the holiday season, something which holds a lot of weight for Christpoint kids pastor Stephanie Sullivan.

“It’s so important to me because I used to be one of those kids who woke up to Christmas morning. And so this an opportunity to make these parents have some pride in themselves that they can give their kids a gift. Because I know the weight of that, that my mom experienced when I was a kid, it hurt her to not be able to give me something. So we just want to minister to them and help them love on their children when maybe they couldn’t financially,” says Sullivan.

The church began collecting items for the store back in September, and even had donations come from outside the church, including local restaurant Mi Torito.

Over the course of the day, sullivan estimates roughly 700 people attended the event.