Flag Family News Reporter Chris Larson visits with Tom Krabbenhoft, event organizer for Freeze Out for Fisher House
FARGO, N.D. – The first-ever Freeze Out for Fisher House will be held next weekend outside the West Acres Mall in north Fargo.
According to North Dakota Veterans Affairs, the Fisher House ND will provide a “home away from home” for families of patients receiving care at the Fargo VA Health Care System. The accommodations are at no cost to the guests.
“This Fisher House will serve the entire state of North Dakota, 18 counties in Minnesota and one county in South Dakota,” Freeze Out for Fisher House organizer Tom Krabbenhoft said.
On Friday, the event will kick off at 9 a.m. with a 150-foot crane raising the U.S. Flag along with the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association’s flag – a group Krabbenhoft is a part of. After that, they’ll have a drive-through coffee and cookie event.
“You can drive through and talk about the Fisher House, get some information,” he said. “We’ve got quite a few people signed up to do that that are volunteering an hour to come out there and sling some coffee and cookies. So that’s kind of cool too.”
There are several veterans that will sleep outside for 48 hours.
“We want to raise awareness,” Krabbenhoft said. “We actually do have a tent that we’re bringing in, but there’s going to be some of us that are going to actually be on the ground.”
Fisher House North Dakota will be a 13,400-square foot building that will contain 16 suites. Officials anticipate they’ll serve 23,000 family members annual.
Krabbenhoft says it’s a meaningful project.
“This is going to be something that’s going to need year-round support and help and that kind of thing,” he said. “The need over there is going to be constant and for us to be able to step up and help out our veterans and more importantly, their families that are staying there is probably the best thing we can do.”
Krabbenhoft is thankful for the community support.
“We’re pretty lucky to live in this area and get all the support that we do for veterans. And we got a lot of great people coming out there to help us out,” he said. “We’re really appreciative of everybody that’s gotten behind us on this and gotten this thing done.”
