A park decimated by a natural disaster is on its way back, with several organizations and individuals pitching in along the way.

Austin police and fire departments, Berg’s Nursery and Modern Woodmen Fraternal Financial are among donors who chipped in to give trees, and funds for trees, to continue restoring Todd Park early this week. Mayor Tom Stiehm; Parks, Recreation and Forestry Director Kim Underwood; and representatives from Modern Woodmen stopped by the park Wednesday morning to watch a few of the trees go in — including several blaze maples east of the pavilion.

“The loss from the tornado was so great, and all of these trees were taken from us,” said Vicki Legried, Fraternal Insurance counselor and secretary of Austin Modern Woodmen Camp 243. “It is going to take a long time to rebuild that, and its important for us to get on board and try to create that beauty again.”

“It was like a forest. If you were at the ballpark, you could hardly see the pavilion,” Underwood described the park pre-tornado, while standing in a field speckled with holes from stump removals. “You could hardly even hear the trains before,” she added.

Todd Park, 2400 11th St. N.E., sustained major damage when a twister barreled down the park June 17. Underwood said that it will take many years for Austin’s largest park to regain the canopy it once had.

Austin Modern Woodmen Camp 243 donated an unspecified number of trees under its Plant A Tree program. The program allows its members to receive one free tree seedling per year to be planted wherever they choose. Modern Woodmen has planted more than 80,000 trees across the country this year.

Berg’s Nursery, 904 First Ave. S.W., donated 25 trees to Todd Park, after holding a promotion in which they donated one tree for each tree sold.

The Austin Police Department and Fire Department held a fundraiser softball tournament in July to purchase trees for the park and for private properties.

They hoped to raise $3,000 and Austin Police Officer Mark Walski said they surpassed that goal, bringing in $4,000. The idea for a fundraiser originated from Walski’s own past. His dad, who was also a police officer, was part of a similar concept in Winona.

The Austin police and fire departments have used the funds to purchase 52 trees to be planted in Todd Park and residencies.

Police officers, firefighters and volunteers will be planting trees themselves at residencies Saturday. Anyone interested in volunteering can call officer Walski at 460-1509.

The New Ulm Girls Fastpitch Softball Association and a woman from Stanton, Minn. number among the out-of-towners that have pitched in trees to restore Todd Park, Underwood said.

Parks and Recreation has applied for a Hormel Foundation grant to plant more trees in the park.

“It would be nice to get the windbreak back up,” Underwood said.