WINTERSET, Iowa — Madison County residents, alongside friends and family of Winterset couple Ryan and Mandy Gainuss came together Saturday afternoon for a fundraiser at Covered Bridges Winery to help raise money for rebuilding efforts of the family's home that was destroyed in a deadly, EF-4 tornado in 2022.
The fundraiser featured silent and live auctions, a BBQ dinner and music by Willie Mac & the Lost Cousins.
It took friends of the Gainuss family a couple hours to get everything set up, and when the couple finally arrived, they were in shock of how well put together the fundraiser was, and how many people showed up to support them.
"They're taking time out of their own lives to you know, do all these things for people they don't even know and it's incredible," Mandy Gainuss told Local 5 News.
The process to rebuild the family's home has taken longer than they expected, because Mandy Gainuss said their insurance wasn't responsive and only paid the family half of what their home was worth: $377,500.
"It's been pretty difficult when you expect someone to be there for you, and they're absolutely not," Gainuss said.
The family has been living out of their shed for the past two years without indoor plumbing, but as of Saturday, their financial goal toward a full rebuild is over halfway complete.
Over the past couple months, progress has been made on the foundation of the Gainuss's house. The basement has been dug, walls have been poured in and plumbing has been completed on the bottom floor. Mandy said the septic system is what will most likely come next in the rebuild.
If you want to help the Gainuss family, they are taking donations on their church's giving page, which can be accessed here.