$2,000 Pledged to Each Home in Flood Area

A woman has made an anonymous pledge to give $2,000 to each household in flood-ravaged Grand Forks and neighboring East Grand Forks, Minn., state and city officials said Tuesday.

The donor reportedly has no ties to North Dakota, and neither she nor any of her relatives ever lived in the state. The woman stipulated only that money go to people who had suffered from the flood, with a minimum of red tape.

Kevin Dvorak, president of the North Dakota Community Foundation, a nonprofit corporation that is distributing the money, said the donor transferred more than $2 million into its account Tuesday.

Dvorak said local officials estimated 5,000 households would be eligible for payments. That would total $10 million. He expects $15 million at most will be distributed.

He said between 300 and 500 payments to households were made Tuesday, totaling $600,000 to $1 million.

Grand Forks Mayor Pat Owens called the donation a gift from heaven.

“God has answered our prayers,” she said. “He has sent a person as an anonymous donor who cares about each and every one of us in this region and wants to help you without any repayment.

“It is a ray of hope so we can build on our future.”

About 300 recipients lined up at a shelter at the Grand Forks Air Force Base to get checks.

“I’m going to hold on to it, get some stuff to get started, like some clothes, and then probably put the rest in the bank,” said Steve Maragos, 29.

Before the flood, many of the residents at the Air Force Base were living in low-income housing in Grand Forks, Dvorak said.

Plans to distribute additional funds were being made, Dvorak said. People will have 45 days to apply.

“They need to be people who have actually suffered,” Dvorak said.