A pair of volunteers from the Minn-Kota chapter of the American Red Cross in Fargo left Wednesday to help in the relief effort for victims of flooding in southeast Minnesota.
Dean and Bonnie Syverson of rural Otter Tail County, Minn., will drive a van equipped with utensils and supplies to feed victims of the devastating floods, which claimed six lives in Minnesota and affected more than 6,000 families in Winona County alone, according to the Red Cross.
"Because this is our region, national asked us to go," said Shellie Simonson Ulven of the Minn-Kota chapter of the American Red Cross. They are relieving other Red Cross volunteers.
More volunteers from the Fargo-Moorhead region might be dispatched to help with the relief effort, Simonson Ulven said.
"We have volunteers currently prepared and ready," she said. "It just depends if they get the call. We expect that we will be getting a call in a few days."
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To date, the Red Cross has provided 3,000 clean-up kits and distributed 700 immediate relief cards, which provide for clothing, prescriptions and other necessities, and have set up eight emergency shelters to help flooding victims in southeast Minnesota.
Minn-Kota American Red Cross volunteers were most recently mobilized this spring, to help with tornadoes in Kansas.
Want to help?
To make a donation to the American Red Cross, call 1-800-REDCROSS. Donations can be sent to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C., 20013, or online at www.redcross.org
Associated Press
Readers can reach Forum reporter Patrick Springer at (701) 241-5522
