University of North Dakota employees arrived Wednesday with a busload of donations to brighten the lives of flood victims at Minot State University.
Janice Hoffarth, staff representative to the State Board of Higher Education and administrative assistant to the UND music department, said staff members remembered what it was like when Grand Forks flooded in 1997 and everyone wanted to help.
Tools, painting supplies, kitchen utensils, bedding and cookware were among the items delivered to Minot by UND employees. A Grand Forks church donated Christmas decorations.
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Andrea Johnson/MDN
University of North Dakota and Minot State University faculty and staff carry items donated by UND employees into the Minot State University Student Center on Wednesday. Items valued at between $5,000 and $10,000 were donated.
Hoffarth said people tried to donate things that wouldn't necessarily be immediate necessities or the first thing flood refugees would have thought about saving.
"Everybody stores their Christmas decorations in the basement," said Hoffarth, so she thought many families might have lost their Christmas decorations.
Other items such as toasters, coffee pots and rugs were donated.
Rob Anderson, the ombudsmen for Minot State who has been helping MSU's flood survivors, said there are about 120 families of faculty and staff that were flooded out.
The donations were set up in a room in MSU's Administration Building and people were able to take what they needed.
Hoffarth said she hopes that someday people from Minot State will return the favor to another community in need. Hoffarth said things do get better after a flood and Grand Forks is a great community to live in today, 14 years after the flood.