Rural communities must first have desire to improve the quality of life. They generally foster strong positive moral values. Many rural communities do not have a governing body. They are unincorporated and do not know where to begin the long challenging process of forming a local governing body. The community of Franklin Kansas (unincorporated) was in the path of an F-5 tornado on May 4, 2003. The devastation was beyond comprehension. The community center, post office and one third of the homes were totally destroyed. That is what began a challenging opportunity. It seemed to fall into place. By that I mean it just seemed that the community pulled together and the sprit of Franklin came to life. That was the desire needed to accomplish the many great opportunities for development that were ahead. The economic devastation was so great that rebuilding the community seem beyond realistic hope. Anything is possible if the desire is there. After the tornado help was quick to move in. FEMA and USDA were on the location in a matter of hours and began to help. As the next few months went on the community had no governing body to provide leadership or organization in the clean-up or rebuilding process. In order for the community to receive financial aid from the government the community had to have a controlling internal body that could be held accountable for the processes required to obtain funding for rebuilding the community. So that was the first challenge. The community started with two steps that were the very critical for the rebuilding process to begin. The implementations of a website and community council were the first two steps. The website (www.franklinkansas.com), to provide vital information needed to inform the public of issues related to the rebuilding process. The community council, to provide leadership, direction and organization for the community. The Franklin Community Council, Inc. was formed in Oct. of 2003, 6 months after the tornado. I sat down and began to put together a list of people that were and had been involved in the community in the past. I didn’t really know where to start so I picked nine of them. It seemed like a good number for a community council. I didn’t realize what I had gotten myself into with this project. I soon found myself searching to find resources for information on this issue. The community needed to form a community council and become a not for profit organization (501-C-3) to acquire grants and accept gifts. Many government and state agencies require this status before they will award funds. Also many corporations require the same status before they will donate or make contributions. After the development of the website and community council that is when we started our endless but diligent effort to make sure the the community of Franklin will live forever.