In May of 1998, a devastating tornado hit the south-western part of Minnesota. This tornado was severe and destroyed a number of communities in the area, particularly hitting St. Peter and the smaller town of Comfrey. A student from the Hiawatha Elementary School in Minneapolis was in Comfrey visiting relatives when the tornado hit and experienced its fury.

A few days later, members of A Thousand Friends of Frogs staff spent a whole day in the Hiawatha Elementary School in Minneapolis teaching about frogs and the environment. Teachers hosting this frog extravaganza had contacted the staff about being involved in this event and the staff developed educational opportunities for the students (see photos).

The Hiawatha Elementary students got involved in the activities of the frog project. Students began to learn about the deformities of frogs in the state, but also about the declining amphibian populations due to habitat loss and other factors. Prompted by the student who had witnessed the tornado devastation in Comfrey, students created some HOPE Frogs from an activity in the project's guide (see photo). The Minneapolis students wrote messages of HOPE on the frogs for the students in Comfrey whose school had been destroyed by the tornado and mailed the frogs to them (see photo below). This helped the students in both communities realize the importance of our environment and that amphibians can be messengers of HOPE, warning us about environmental challenges which we all can face and which impacts all species. HOPE also represents Helping Our Planet Earth, which means helping the environment and every part of it including each other.

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