Sitting in her home two hours from Mayfield, Mary Schalk learned about the turmoil just like every other teenager that night.
“I saw it on the news,” says Schalk, who’s now 17 and attends high school in ----, two hours from Mayfield. “I started all night watching the storms, it was happening here, but not as bad, so I was up all night with the storms.”
The next morning, she had a calling to help.
“I knew that I had the resources, I knew that nobody else could really drive the semi-trucks were turned over, the roads were blocked, but the runway is only 3,000 feet, and all they had to do was clear it and I could be there with so much supplies,” she says.
Schalk, who was 16 years old at the time, was well on her way to getting her pilot’s license, but she’d never made a solo flight before. The 30-minute flight to Mayfield wasn’t something she made every day, as this would be Schalk’s first solo flight.
“At that time, I was trying to get my hours in and was trying to fly solo, but I’d never been on a mission necessarily,” she adds.
Within 30 minutes, she had the approval from her instruction to make the trip, and that’s when Schalk got to work.
“Through our Facebook page, we put out there that we were opening the doors to the church and a local community and few counties over. We said that we were opening the doors to the airport and anybody that wants to bring something you just bring it in, you drop it off, and they sure did,” says Schalk.
Compassion Takes Control
From diapers and baby formula to even trash bags, she jetted off with the necessities in tow.
“We pulled over there and the hanger was within five feet,” she describes as she landed in Mayfield “We unloaded everything. And from there people from the city came out to the airport and dispersed it to where it needed to go.”
While her first trip brought the community items they desperately needed, she knew her work still wasn’t done.
“Then we eventually took some Christmas presents towards the end of the month, towards Christmas,” she says.
At 16 years old, Schalk put a desire to help, into action, even if at times she questioned if the mission was something she’d be able to complete.
“Those people didn’t deserve that, and I knew I had to do something to give back to them,” says Schalk.
From Flight to the Football Field
As compassion took flight that day, just a week later, teenagers in a town nearly 5 hours from Mayfield also refused to let the ravaged community stand in solitude.
“Last year, on November 26, we played the Beachwood high school football team of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky .We met them in a semifinal game. And we did not come out victory,” says Kathy O’Nan, mayor of Mayfield.
And just two weeks after that game as the Cardinals loss that ended their season, Beechwood marched into Mayfield with help.
“Here came people from Beechwood, their football team, people from Forth Mitchell,” she says. “They brought money, they brought supplies, they brought their hearts.”
From Foes to Friends
From foes on the field to friends on that December day, after the tragedy, the two towns saw no competition. They were compassionate peers who did what they can to aid Mayfield.
“They brought their help,” says O’Nan. “That’s a pretty cool thing.”
What O’nan describes as a football school, the Mayfield Cardinals fought the entire season this year to bring joy to this community, and help Mayfield heal. And that’s exactly what they did.
“We have the fourth best winning record in the whole United States. That’s a wow for our little school,” says O’Nan.
Honorable Rivals, Forever Friends
The Mayfield Cardinals made it to the class 2A state championship football game this month, and you’ll never guess who they met once again: Beechwood High School, with the two mayors documenting the emotional occasion before the game.
“He and I are going to meet on the field and we have a presentation to give to the city of Fort Mitchell and Beechwood High School. This is very special,” says O’Nan.
The plaque said, “Honorable Rivals, Forever Friends,” a fitting tribute from a town that became unexpected friends.
Lessons Off the Field
With all the acts of kindness this past year, what the teenagers have earned can’t be taught in a classroom or coached on a football field. Instead, it’s been a year full of life lessons of how to be selfless servants in times of dire need.
“You’re not sitting them down and saying this is how you treat people. They are witnessing it,” says O’Nan. “They are witnessing it by doing it. And by seeing how we help each other, and it’s from the heart.”
While so much has been done in the year since the tornado hit, Mayfield has a long road of recovery still ahead. To help with the long-term recovery efforts, you can donate here.
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