A number of Chiefs players are putting their offseason travel plans on hold to volunteer in tornado-ravaged Joplin, Missouri on Friday.
The players will join more than 100 members of the Chiefs organization in building five homes alongside Habitat for Humanity and the Governor’s Joplin Challenge.
A lack of housing remains a critical barrier to the city’s recovery one year after an EF-5 tornado affected 7,571 households and destroyed 4,024 residences. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon established the 2012 Governor’s Joplin-Habitat Challenge with the goal of building 35 new affordable homes this year in Joplin’s devastation zone.
The Royals, Cardinals and Rams, as well as the University of Missouri Athletic Department and NASCAR, are also part of the challenge during separate build dates.
This is the second consecutive year Chiefs players and staffers are traveling to Joplin. Last June, the Chiefs took four buses to Joplin and partnered with AmeriCorps to clean debris at houses destroyed in the storm’s path.
“It was a big impact just to see those kids,” WR 
The Chiefs’ previous Joplin involvement includes a bottled water and supply drive at Arrowhead Stadium immediately following the tornado. Members of the Kansas City community filled more than six semi-trucks full with supplies and donated over $55,000, including a $35,000 donation from the Hunt Family and the Chiefs.
Arrowhead Stadium also hosted a Joplin High School football game against Raymore-Peculiar with net proceeds benefitting the Joplin Schools Tornado Relief Fund. Then, over the holiday season, members of the Chiefs surprised nearly 1,300 students with toys that had provided on wish lists to “Santa’s Helpers.”
