Twin Cities family lends a hand in Sri Lanka

An Apple Valley family is home after the trip of a lifetime. Following the tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka, they helped spearhead a fundraiser for the victims, and recently, they had a chance to see firsthand -- how their efforts paid off.

The day December 26, 2004 for most of us was a day to recover from the holidays. But for the millions who live in Sri Lanka it was the first day that would turn into years of recovery after a tsunami hit the island located just south of India. "When the tsunami came, all of the houses, most of the houses got washed away and the people had no place to live," Nevanka Goonewardena remembered.

She's from Sri Lanka and lived in Minnesota at the time. After seeing the devastation on television, she felt compelled to help, her first thought, refinancing her home mortgage.

"We were at one point thinking of mortgaging our houses when we met Kay and Dan Shimek, and the funds came rolling in," Goonewardena said.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars would be raised out of the Shimek's "Enjoy" restaurant that doubled as a fundraising meeting place.

"When that unfolds on the television in front of your eyes, you know you have to do something, and whether it was that catastrophe or a different that one just moved you at that point in time to do something significant," Kay Shimek explained.

But nobody anticipated just how significant their efforts would be. Through friends, family and the Apple Valley community, they raised more than three hundred thousand dollars. Goonewardena, the Sri Lanka native would not have to mortgage her home to help.

"I don't know how to express how thankful we are, the whole Minnesota Sri Lanka Friendship Foundation and the volunteers from Minnesota."

Just back from Sri Lanka, nearly three years and thousands of dollars later, thanks to Minnesota families Sri Lankan's have their homes back and children have a school to attend.

A lot of work still needs to be done in the country, but this latest rebuilding effort will be a model for other communities.

"This is a gift from the people of Minnesota to people of Sri Lanka this is the best thing that ever happened," Goonewardena said. By Jeffrey DeMars KARE OnLive.

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