Billy Luetzen injured his leg this summer, but that hasn't stopped him from helping flood victims.
Luetzen and fellow members of Minot's Pangea House have been organizing flood clean-ups since late this summer, going where they hear they are needed almost every Sunday.
Luetzen, unable to stand for long periods, makes do by sitting in a chair and shoveling flood debris from a sitting position.
Article Photos
Submitted Photo - - Pangea House member Billy Luetzen, wearing a respirator, helps cleans out a flooded house last July.
Luetzen also is doing his student teaching and trying to help his mother, whose home was flooded and who is currently living in a FEMA trailer.
More than four months after the flood, there's still more need for helpers than people might think, said Luetzen and Jazmine Wolff, also a Pangea House member.
"There's still a lot of work, a lot of major work," said Wolff.
Some flooded homes are not cleaned out or prepared for the coming winter.
Wolff and Luetzen said the flood relief effort has also benefited from the generosity of friends across the country, many of them bands that have played at Pangea House at one time or another. Bands in Portland, Ore., Missoula, Mont., Fargo, Minneapolis and Chicago held benefit concerts or other fundraising efforts to raise money for Minot flood relief.
Wolff and Luetzen said the donations from across the country and those raised locally by Pangea House members have been pooled for flood relief efforts. They have purchased gift cards to give to friends and family affected by the flood and have bought needed supplies, such as respirators for people mucking out flooded houses.
Through their Facebook page, the group organizes volunteers to go to a flooded home and help with the much needed work.
Pangea House's members have also been impacted by the flood.
Pangea House is a community center that hosts a variety of bands but also other artistic and other community events. It operates as a collective and members each contribute what they can to the building's upkeep and rent payment. Wolff said about half of Pangea House's members lived in homes that were flooded, so some have found it hard to make the rent payments on Pangea House. That means that other members have to keep things going.
Wolf and Luetzen said they are seeking more volunteers to help with the clean-up effort. They are also interested in hearing from people who still need help cleaning out their flooded homes. People who want more information can call Wolff at 720-0308.
The Pangea House also maintains a page about the flood at (flood.pangeahouse.org/) Pangea House's Web site is located at (pangeahouse.org/blog/)