On March 27, two busloads of NWC students traveled to Grand Forks, N.D. to assist with sandbagging efforts against the rising waters of the Red River. The whirlwind service project, orchestrated in less than 48 hours by Dean of Student Development Paul Bradley, began as a response to a plea for help from Fargo officials.

When the students gathered to leave at 3:30 p.m. the college learned Fargo had just been closed to inbound traffic. Bradley moved forward in faith and found another opportunity in Grand Forks. The eager-to-serve students arrived at 1 a.m. Saturday and they filled more than 100,000 bags nonstop until 7:30 a.m. Their last task was to load the bags onto the distribution trucks.

Bradley felt it was worth everything it took to make this happen. "It was very rewarding," he said. "Our students were captured by it and seeing a new part of life that experientially put them outside of Northwestern." He noted locals were "just really intrigued that we were willing to go that far. I’m very glad we did this."