I Helped Rebuild Minot

By Jean Schempp
Contributing Writer

11/30/11 (Minot ND) I Helped Rebuild Minot is pleased to announce that we are taking the final steps with our program and we expect our project to be complete by Friday!

It started with a simple idea between husband and wife team J. Davis and Jean Schempp, and ended with a monumental project that put sheetrock in a substantial number of homes flooded by the Souris River in June 2011.  The couple, who own Minot radio stations 102.9 WGO and 94-9 The ZOO, were able to use their radio stations as the primary promotional vehicle for the huge project.

Before the flood waters receded (7/8/11) we sold our first sheetrock shirt, and Tuesday (11/29/11) we sold our last.  In less than 5 months, I Helped Rebuild Minot raised more than $435,000.  When the last sheetrock gift card is handed out, we will have purchased and given away more than 59,000 sheets of sheetrock and total of 1,531 homeowners will have received sheetrock from I Helped Rebuild Minot
 
The money for this project came from many sources. Thousands of individuals purchased shirts and many individuals also donated money. Groups of individuals got together and conducted fundraisers and gave the money they raised to our project, businesses organized fundraisers and did the same. Businesses and corporations also gave generous donations, and the Minot Recovery fund provided a substantial grant as well.  J. and Jean also received help from their staff at the radio station as well as assistance from some very accommodating volunteers.  “We hesitate to mention anyone by name in fear of forgetting someone. So we would just like every person who helped us with this project - whether you bought a shirt, helped us sell shirts, helped us ship online orders, donated a small amount, held a fundraiser, or donated a large amount – we want everyone to know that we are immensely grateful for the part you played in making this happen.”  Special thanks must be given to Stevick Business Forms who worked day and night to provide us with t-shirts at a generous discount, and to KK Bold Advertising Agency who designed and maintained our website at no charge.

In the end, it was the generosity of thousands of people who made it possible for I Helped Rebuild Minot to realize the goal of providing sheetrock to so many flooded homeowners.  It was a long and sometimes challenging endeavor, but it was worth every moment to know that, together, we did something very important to help many of our citizens get a start on the long process of putting their lives and their homes back together. And we did it, one shirt - and one sheet of sheetrock at a time!

For more information call:  Jean Schempp 701-263-1156 or 701-852-7449