City calls on students
When asked to help stave off rising water from the impending flood, countless NDSU students answered with a resounding “yes.”
An e-mail went out late Friday afternoon explaining that the city of Fargo needed volunteers to fill sandbags in preparation for the possible flood the area could sustain.
The Red River is predicted to crest at 37 feet late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
By Saturday morning, the Memorial Union was acting as a hub to shuttle volunteers to the filling site at the garbage facility.
Sonja Nelson, a senior majoring in accountancy, drove one of the 15-passenger vans for about three hours. She also helped fill bags between trips to and from the site.
As work progressed, the sandbags were loaded onto flatbeds and trucked to locations in need of dikes. Students soon began working to assemble the structures near homes in danger of flooding.
Allyn Kostecki, director of TRIO programs, and Steve Kappun, director of Upward Bound, hopped in a van heading to the sandbag placement site.
Preparing for a flood is nothing new to Kappun.
“ It’s something you do in the spring in Fargo,” he said.
Asking NDSU students to help with the effort didn’t catch Kostecki off guard.
“ I’m not surprised to see NDSU jump in to lend a hand,” he said.
Kappun agreed.
“ There is a great community at NDSU,” Kappun said. “People do this sort of thing; it’s not out of the ordinary.”
Once at the site, volunteers descended from the vans and immediately fell into a place in the assembly line that hauled sandbags from a pile on the road to a dike in the backyard.
The dike was built behind houses on the corner of Elm Street and Woodland Drive in Fargo.
Kristy Schmidt, an engineer with the city of Fargo, helped coordinate where the sandbags needed to go and what volunteers had to do.
“ (Volunteers) rely on the officials for expertise,” Schmidt said.
Two other engineers joined Schmidt in overseeing the building of the dike.
Schmidt said about 50 to 60 volunteers were helping at the particular sight she was supervising.
Preparing for the flood attracts more volunteers than the clean-up effort does, Schmidt said.
It’s laborious work because the bags are saturated and heavy.
Mark Loidolt, a sophomore majoring in civil engineering, wanted to help out when he heard about the need for volunteers.
Loidolt, a resident assistant in Seim Hall, put up posters and signs to recruit residents for the effort.
“ I brought a few people with me,” Loidolt said.
Used to performing manual labor on his farm, Loidolt wanted to help stack, rather than fill sandbags.
“ It’s a little more physical work,” he said.
Kevin Moore, a junior majoring in agricultural ecomonics, is a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, so he is used to assisting with philanthropic projects.
“ It’s a good way to go out and help people,” Moore said. “It’s good to see people help out philanthropy-wise.”
Just as the pile of sandbags dwindled away, a Salvation Army “canteen” pulled up to dole out snacks and beverages to the workers.
A “canteen” is fully equipped with food and supplies, and travels around during times of disaster to offer sustenance and a much-needed break, said Kenneth Christiansen, a volunteer and member of the local Emergency Disaster Team for the Salvation Army.
“ It’s good for people to stay hydrated,” Christiansen said.
He and another volunteer Kathy Carbno spent Saturday and Sunday driving around north Fargo distributing food and liquids to volunteers, including ham sandwiches for lunch.
“ That’s why we’re out here — to kind of thank (volunteers),” Carbno said. “A lot of college students are not from (Fargo), but they still take pride in the town.”
Christiansen said it was “wonderful” to see so many students volunteering.
“ If we didn’t have them we’d lose the town,” he said.
As of Sunday night, 20,000 sandbags had been placed, but additional sandbags were still needed. The volunteer drive was extended to Monday.