Volunteers Start Sandbagging on First Day of Fargo Sandbag Central

The city plans to focus on areas with unfinished walls, dikes, and homes that have not been bought out

FARGO, N.D. – The city of Fargo needs 200 volunteers at any given time at Sandbag Central.

With their help, the city is hoping to reach its goal of one million sandbags for flood protection.

The city needs the sandbags filled and ready to go when flooding begins.

Volunteers use the ‘spider’ and work as a team to fill, close, and place the bags on pallets.

The city is planning to fill the bags over the course of the next two weeks.

City of Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney said they will be honing in on areas with unfinished dikes, walls, and homes that have not been bought out.

“Most of the buildings at risk for flooding are going to be our homeowners’ area,” Mayor Mahoney said. “So, those are the areas that we have to take care of. So, unfortunately our primary line of defense is sometimes in people’s backyard.”

A city planner says the afternoon shifts are looking pretty thin but they welcome volunteers for all shifts.

“It’s exciting,” City of Fargo assistant director of planning Mark Williams said. “You know, it’s a community issue that’s being solved by the community together as one and it is fun to see so many people get inspired to help out their community.”

You can volunteer at Fargo Sandbag Central from 7am to 7pm on weekdays. Click here for more information.