Eden resident receives donation from local veterans following July tornado

EDEN, N.Y. (WIVB) - It's been nearly three months since an EF-2 tornado ripped through the town of Eden. Residents are still trying to pick up the pieces.

Now, thanks to the generosity of the community, one local veteran is one step closer to a new home.

Edward Blasz is a Vietnam war veteran and a member of the East Eden Fire Department. Blasz and his wife, Rosemary, were one of many families whose homes were left in shambles following the tornado.

"We were dumfounded, everything was gone," said Blasz. "I looked outside, and the yard was full of trees, the road was full of trees."

The roof of the Blasz family's home was completely torn off and almost three months later, it still hasn't been fixed.

"We were in the main path. Just ground zero," said Blasz.

Gregory Gauthier is the Chair of the local 41 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Veterans Committee. He is also an Army veteran. The tornado occurred while Gauthier was away on active duty. When he returned home and heard Blasz's story, he knew he wanted to help.

"We had talked about it and put something together," said Gauthier. "We were able to do a fundraiser, and we were able to raise the money that we did for Ed and his family."

Through the help of Gauthier, the IBEW Union, and some local veterans, they presented Blasz with $6,000 on Thursday to go towards recovery efforts.

"We're all going to stand united no matter what," said Gauthier. "We saw that Ed needed a hand, we reached out, and we helped him."

"That's the one thing about the brotherhood of the IBEW, we all try to help each other," said John Dojka, electrician with the local 41 IBEW. "We just do the best we can to get the job done."

Blasz says he's hoping to get an insurance settlement to demolish his current home. He then hopes to have someone build a new, smaller house for him and his wife.

Although he is saddened the home, he lived in for the last 5 decades will be gone, he is grateful for how the neighbors in the town of Eden have stepped up when it's needed most.

"I can't tell you enough about the support we've had," Blasz said. "Veterans groups, the towns, neighbors, strangers, people I've never met before, just phenomenal."

Trina Catterson joined the News 4 team in 2024. She previously worked at WETM-TV in Elmira, a sister station of WIVB. See more of her work here.