Lindquist loads up overwhelming donations of winter gear for Ukraine

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) - A new year isn’t the only thing dropping in, as the last gloves, coats and socks are loaded into the trailer.

All donations for Ukraine with the help of Moorhead veteran, Mark Lindquist, who’s been doing anything from reaching out to, camping out, to bring awareness to the cause.

“I figured it would be a great connection between Fargo winter weather preparation for ice fishing, hunting and tailgating, and people sleeping out in a trench,” said Lindquist. “We connected those two, the need and the volunteers, and people have just responded. They don’t have power but about 3 hours a day, and it’s about 20 degrees at night.”

A cause that’s gotten help from Hero, Fix It Forward and the community, more than he ever dreamed.

“I figured we collect enough to get five or six bags and a commercial plane ticket and luggage. We’ve got four tons,” said Lindquist.

“We’ve done other collections for stuff like this before and we usually get a box and we usually fill the box,” said Matthew Carlson, owner of Fix It Forward Auto Care. “We’ve been emptying these boxes at all our locations multiple times a day. We were excited when we had a corner full of stuff. We didn’t expect a fraction of what we got.”

Lindquist says the mission is all about the people he’s seen, in trouble and in the cold.

“There’s tears, there’s hugs and there’s thank you’s,” said Lindquist. “These people understand that if it doesn’t come from America, it probably isn’t coming.”

People that are getting a warm embrace from afar from a certain group of people who know a thing or two about the cold.

“It’s so exciting that people understood, ‘hey, we know how to survive through winter in Fargo.’ This community responded incredibly for Ukraine, and so I hope we can duplicate this all over the country.”

If you’d like to contribute towards Lindquist’s cause, click here.

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