Holding a food drive is the kind of volunteerism that would make Sarah Martinsen happy. It would be paying it forward.
Martinsen, a sociology major at North Dakota State University, died in March in a car-pedestrian accident in Florida at the age of 21. She was there participating in a multi-state volunteerism tour called "Paying It Forward."
Based on the concept of "paying it forward" helping another with a good deed in hope that they help another person out the group stopped in cities, doing service projects, with the ultimate destination of New Orleans, helping with work that "still needs to be done there," explained Deb DeWitz, Martinsen's mother.
"Many students were off on spring break, but this was a group of kids who decided to use their spring break to help other people," she added.
Before Martinsen left for the "Paying It Forward" tour, "she encouraged a bunch of us to hold a food drive or to work at the local food pantry," said Cassie Kraft, her best friend since fifth grade.
It seemed only appropriate that Sept. 11, a day of service, should be the time to make good on the promise to volunteer. It is also three days before what would have been Martinsen's 22nd birthday.
"We're holding this in rememberance of her," Kraft said. "It's not just a food drive. I think everybody who comes to donate is also supporting her family. I think Sarah always wanted us to do good. I think this food drive is going to accomplish two things it's going to help the people in need, but it's also going to help her family, knowing that her community is supporting her."
The food drive is scheduled for Sept. 11 at the North Prairie Farmers Market, on Broadway, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is also a drop box at MarketPlace Foods. The drop box will be there until Saturday.
"The things that aren't acceptable (include) things in glass containers they're unsafe and difficult to work with and no baby or pet food," Kraft said. Other than that, any non-perishable items and fresh produce are acceptable. These are items that "people in need don't usually get access to," she added.
Monetary donations are also welcome. The proceeds, both food and money, are going to the Community Action Partnership - Minot Region, which will then allocate them to the different food pantries as needed, said Peggy Walter, of Minot, a vendor at the North Prairie Farmers Market who helped coordinate the event.
"My kids were friends of Sarah Martinsen. Before she left on her trip, she talked to them about helping out at a food pantry or soup kitchen." Walker said. "We just felt it was important to follow through with that request of hers and invite the other friends to help out. This is all Sarah's idea we're giving her the credit."
Helping other people was something that Martinsen lived to do. She was involved in Relay For Life and while a student at NDSU, was a member of its Honor Society. Even as a young girl, the spirit of helping others was there. She was a volunteer at Souris Valley Humane Society while she was in grade school. She also pointed out indifferences in social justice. When the family moved to Minot when she was in fifth grade, she was quick to point out that her school was not accessible for the disabled, DeWitz said.
As Martinsen got older, her interest in volunteering, in helping those in need, increased.
"I think when kids are younger, they don't necessarily know about the world around them and people who have so little," DeWitz said. "When she got to college and started sociology, she began to understand things like hunger and homelessness and discrimination."
In the fall of 2009, she went to England on a student exchange and traveled.
"There are a lot of countries that are worse off," DeWitz said. "The more you travel, the more you meet people from many places and she began to see herself as a global citizen."
At the time of her death, DeWitz said, Martinsen was filling out an application for the Peace Corps. "She was interested in joining ... to help countries that have far greater needs than ours."
"I wrote a letter to Sarah after she died, and I promised to continue making good," Kraft said. "This is just going to be a good thing for everybody involved. It's important to not forget her."
Kraft said she would be willing to pick up items from those who are homebound, or who can't get out to make it to the food drive or the drop box at MarketPlace Foods. For this service, Kraft can be contacted at 578-4163.