The original Fill The Dome crew November 21st, 2007, pictured with North Dakota Representative Earl Pomeroy. (L to R:) Emma Johnson, Kristen Feickert, Congressman Pomeroy, Allison Bock, Alex Windjue, Bill Resemayer, Patty Dailey-Ruddy, Stephanie Erickson, Tanner Olson. (PHOTO PROVIDED BY CONGRESSMAN POMEROY)
In August 2008, the group, with new members from each school, got together for a weekend retreat. During this retreat, the question was raised as to whether Fill The Dome should be done again. The next morning, the newspaper ran an article about how the local Dorothy Day house had to close their doors, because they didn’t have enough food. It was clear that Fill The Dome MUST happen again.
Once again, the group got together with all of the schools. This time, the group had multiple members from different schools, and two students from North Dakota State University. The goal this time was 50 tons of food and $50,000. New to 2008 was the addition of this monetary goal, a community square (for donations that didn’t belong to a school), as well as a Facebook campaign and a Live Webcam.
The result? 142,535 pounds of food and $58,000- well over both of their goals.
In September 2009, the students of Fill The Dome 2008 received the Hunger Champion award from The Great Plains Food Bank.
The 2008 Winners of Fill The Dome were:
High School Division: Oak Grove High School
9th Grade Division: South High Campus II
Middle School Division: Discovery Middle School
Elementary School Division : Holy Spirit & Robert Asp Schools
The 2008 Fill The Dome crew: David Berg, Joe Burgum, Simone Wai, David Karaz, Laruen Blanshan, Michael Vandevoort, Fred Burdine, Senator Byron Dorgan, Luke Brodeur, Mariah Rud, Cam Knutson, Meagan McDougall, Jake Bechtold, Alex Windjue, Advisor Greg Tehven. (PHOTO BY LYNN RUD)
Fill The Dome members, past and present, gather at a summer retreat on Lake Cormorant to celebrate their success. (PHOTO BY JAKE BECHTOLD)
So exactly how did Fill The Dome come to be?
In June 2007, student counsel leaders from each of the Fargo-Moorhead area High Schools got together and formed the Metro Student Counsel Ambassadors. As a group, they wanted to do something big, something to highlight their senior year of high school. A couple of phone calls, lots of donations and few espressos later, Fill The Dome was born. The goal? Fill the entire floor of the Fargodome (80,000 sq. ft) with food for local food pantries.
The original Fill The Dome crew had some serious work ahead of them. Not only did they need to organize the event, they had to prove it could be done.
Staring in September 2007, the group got together to plan the first ever Fill The Dome. With ALL of the area schools on board, the race was on; Students from the elementary to the high school level all over the Fargo-Moorhead area joined together to fill the floor of the Fargodome for local food pantries. Each school conducted their own food drive, and then took their food to the Fargodome. Each school was judged on the amount of food raised (based on a “per student ratio”). The winner received $1000 to go to a charity of their choice
The first ever Fill The Dome winners were:
High School Division – Oak Grove High School (Fargo)
•United Way of Cass County ($500)
• Northwood Family affected by the Tornado ($500)
9th Grade Division – West Fargo Sheyenne Ninth Grade Center
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of The Village Family Service
Center ($250)
• Make a Wish Foundation of North Dakota ($250)
• United Way of Cass County ($250)
• Habitat for Humanity of Lake Agassiz ($250)
Middle School Division – Carl Ben Eielson Middle School (Fargo)
• Feed My Starving Children (Brooklyn Park, MN) ($500)
Elementary School Division – Holy Spirit & St. Joseph’s Catholic School
• Organization Recipient - Family in the community ($250)
• St. Ann’s Native American School (Belcourt, ND) ($250)
The first ever Fill The Dome raised 80,498 pounds of food for the Great Plains Food Bank. We were even featured on Good Morning America. For the clip, as well as some other videos and photos, check out our Media page and our Photos page.
As part of what seemed to be a new tradition, Fill The Domers, past and present once again got together for a weekend retreat. Once again, the new group of students had a choice on their hands: To continue Fill The Dome, or to start something new. They decided to once again do Fill The Dome.
In 2009, the students set their goals even higher than before: 75 Tons of Food, $75,000 and a new goal of 7,500 signatures of awareness. The students added this goal because they came to the conclusion that food drives alone do not solve hunger. Their signatures of awareness were in the form of an online petition that could potentially invoke action by local and state governments.
Their almost 4 months of planning paid off. They raised over 100 Tons of food and over $100,000 ($20,000 from Hornbachers Food and Gate City each, and $10,000 from The Killborne Group). They however only gathered 3,100 signatures, but still made the most of the two more important goals.
The 2009 Winners of Fill The Dome were:
High School Division: Oak Grove High School
9th Grade Division: South High Campus II
Middle School Division: Carl Ben Eielson
Elementary School Division : Holy Spirit & Robert Asp Schools
Photo coming soon....
Website run and designed by Jake Bechtold. Email any bugs here.
Website run and designed by Jake Bechtold. Email any bugs here.