Volunteers came from 22 states to fill sandbags

FARGO (AP) — Fargo city officials say volunteers came from 22 states and more than 325 cities to help fill sandbags for the upcoming Red River flood fight.

The city opened so-called Sandbag Central on Valentine’s Day and filled about 2.5 million bags in 22 days. The sandbags are scheduled to be delivered to neighborhoods later this week.

About 12,800 people joined the effort. Statistics from registration forms show that volunteers came from 167 cities in Minnesota, 94 in North Dakota, 19 in South Dakota, 45 from other states and one from Ontario, Canada.

Officials say many of the volunteers were local college students who listed their hometowns as their permanent addresses.

Fargo Enterprise Director Bruce Grubb told The Forum that the volunteer numbers were “just astonishing.”

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