Local firm sends employees to help with Okla. tornado relief

Eye-opening, life changing and heartfelt – those are just some of the words by employees of a Raleigh company who recently took a trip to Moore, Okla., to help victims of giant tornado that killed more than 20 people in May and destroyed countless homes.

Andrew Krieman and 11 other workers from Allscripts, a Chicago-based electronic medical health records services firm, were part of a team of company volunteers that assisted with clean-up.

Allscripts footed the entire bill for the trip, including airfare, lodging and food, and workers were also paid their normal salary while volunteering.

Workers first helped farmers clean up debris from their fields.

"They already lost property and homes. Now, they were going to lose revenue as well because they were unable to harvest," Krieman said Sunday.

The team also presented a $50,000 check to a local hospital.

Joy Traynor, who along with Krieman, was among five employees from Raleigh who went on the trip, said she brought back a heart-shaped piece of storm debris as a keepsake.

"That's just something that I will look back on and know that our hearts really were in the right place and that we were there to do something greater than ourselves," she said.