Unpaid humanitarian volunteer Mark J. Lindquist has been coordinating non-lethal humanitarian aid missions as close as 1-mile away from the Russian frontlines since March of 2022.
Mark J. Lindquist, United States Air Force veteran, most well-known for his performances on Monday and Thursday Night Football for the NFL, has returned to America after his 9-month humanitarian mission to Ukraine. To rally support for Ukrainians in need this winter, he is announcing “Operation: Sleep Out” a 17-day challenge to camp out in Fargo, North Dakota to bring awareness of the many ways Americans can help Ukrainians this winter. The launch of this public awareness campaign is at Broadway Square at 12:00 pm on Friday, December 16th and will camp there until the 17th. “My friends in a trench in the Donbas can’t escape the cold – and the Donbas is the same latitude as International Falls, MN,” said Lindquist.
Following the two-day launch in Broadway Square, the first phase of Mark’s mission is to issue a challenge to the community to identify backyards, parking lots, football fields, or rooftops that Mark can safely camp in for a night or multiple nights from Sunday, December 18th to New Year’s Day 2023. Lindquist said, “This is something the community of Fargo, North Dakota is doing for Ukrainians and I can’t wait to see the response from the caring community we live in. This is our chance to duplicate the greatness our grandparents demonstrated 80 years ago when similar events occurred on the European continent. Even a small donation of $11 gets me a locally sourced tourniquet in Ukraine or $15 gets us a good pair of winter socks for a guy sleeping in a trench for the next 6 months.”
Lindquist has been networking across the war zone of Ukraine for the past 9 months and has formed partnerships with many western volunteers and local Ukrainians to identify immediate needs and hand-deliver humanitarian aid as close as 1-mile away from the Russian frontlines. “We work diligently to ensure that the deliveries are made directly to those in need and nothing gets resold or lost along the way. Our nonprofit team has set up a social media channel so donors can see photo evidence of our volunteers delivering the aid packages,” said Lindquist.
You can visit MarkJLindquist.com/Ukraine or follow the hashtag #UkraineChallenge and @MarkJLindquist on social media to learn how to partner with Mark’s team of volunteers to help Ukrainians this winter.
