(Des Moines, Iowa) – High-speed internet provider Kinetic is providing a free dinner to every member of the Greenfield community today, May 21st, as part of an event marking the one-year anniversary of the devastating tornado that destroyed a significant portion of the town. The $5,000 donation intends to bring comfort to those impacted by the storm and speaks to the company’s commitment to supporting Greenfield’s comeback story.  Kinetic is also donating $1,500 to Greenfield’s Tree Memorial Fund, which aims to replant trees lost in the tornado. The contribution will help the town—well known for its tree-lined streets before the storm—maintain its beloved landscape for residents and visitors.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is slated to be in Greenfield this afternoon, for a ceremony commemorating recovery from the May, 2024 tornado that devastated the community, and celebrating efforts since then, to recover and rebuild.

State Representative Ray Sorensen, a Republican from Greenfield, said he is “Grateful for Kinetic’s unwavering support for Greenfield; they stood by the community in its darkest hour, and they continue to show up every day for these residents while they work toward full recovery. Kinetic’s donations will help preserve the beauty of Greenfield and offer an opportunity for the entire community to come together to remember, grieve, acknowledge progress, and heal—on a day that will undoubtedly be challenging.”

In the aftermath of the tornado, Kinetic crews took immediate action to restore connectivity and a sense of normalcy for Greenfield residents and business owners. Kinetic also identified the need to ‘build back better,’ replacing the damaged, copper-based network infrastructure, with buried fiber to create a faster, stronger, and more weather-resilient network.  Kinetic invested $250,000—and more than 3,200 hours from May to November 2024—to rebuild the fiber-optic network, which delivers high-speed internet to 310 homes and businesses. In addition, Kinetic broke ground this week on Monday, May 19, to build out the remainder of its fiber network in Greenfield, investing another $400,000 to bring faster speeds to 610 more homes and businesses.

Construction has already started on the new build, and once completed, Greenfield is expected to have 99,100 feet (around 19 miles) of buried fiber. Covering the town, 920 homes and businesses will have access to critical high-speed broadband fiber internet to support their daily needs, today and many years to come.