GALENA, Kan. — TAMKO Building Products LLC is donating $250,000 to the Houston Chapter of the American Red Cross for disaster relief efforts to help those affected by a devastating tornado earlier this week in the towns of Deer Park and Pasadena, Texas. Jeff Beyer, TAMKO’s chief operating officer, presented the check to Red Cross officials. 

The gift comes just days after an EF3 tornado ripped through swaths of the area around Houston on Jan. 24. It is estimated the tornado was more than a half-mile wide and tore a path 18-miles long, with maximum wind speeds of 140 mph. 

In 2011, the Joplin, Mo., town where TAMKO was founded and has multiple offices and manufacturing plants was ravaged by an EF5 tornado – one of the deadliest tornadoes in American history – and this incident came just one month after an EF4 tornado destroyed major parts of Tuscaloosa, Ala., including a TAMKO manufacturing plant. Since that time, the company has found ways to assist others whose lives have been impacted by the tragic effects of deadly tornadoes.

TAMKO’s Chairman and CEO David Humphreys was in his hometown of Joplin during the 2011 tornado.

“After living through a tornado, you will never be the same," Humphreys said. "I know all too well what tornadoes do to towns, businesses, homes, and how they can destroy everything in a matter of moments. Rebuilding begins with helping the people and our donation to Red Cross will go directly to those efforts in Houston.”

TAMKO operates facilities nationwide including multiple offices and manufacturing plants in Texas, and its Dallas shingle plant supplies necessary roofing materials across Texas and the Southwestern United States.

“While no TAMKO employees were injured or TAMKO facilities hit by this tornado, our company leadership was moved by the tragic situation in Houston and knew we needed to help,” said Beyer. 

TAMKO has donated to the Red Cross many times for disaster recovery efforts, including $1 million in 2011 for Joplin tornado recovery; $100,000 in 2011 for Alabama tornado recovery; $100,000 following the 2014 tornadoes in Baxter Springs, Kan., and Quapaw, Okla.; $200,000 in 2017 for hurricanes Harvey and Maria relief efforts, and $100,000 in 2019 for tornado recovery in the Southwest Missouri towns of Carl Junction, Oronogo, and Golden City.

For more information on TAMKO’s charitable giving and community support efforts, visit TAMKO.com/CharitableGiving.