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Over the top: Fort Dodge donors help get drywall to Hamburg

Decker steps in to haul the stuff for free

Thanks to multiple generous donations, drywall from Fort Dodge will soon be loaded up and shipped to the flooded town of Hamburg.

Matt Peters, an elementary and middle school teacher at Marnie Simons Elementary and Hamburg Middle School, started a fundraiser for the drywall on Tuesday.

Peters, a Fort Dodge native, spoke with friends in Webster County about that need. He was quoted $5,000 for the product.

The drywall will be used to rebuild water-damaged homes in the town.

As of Thursday, $5,600 had been raised, exceeding the fundraiser’s goal.

More than 100 people donated to the cause.

“It’s very overwhelming,” Peters said on Thursday. “More than $1,000 from people I don’t even know.”

Peters said he hasn’t decided what company in Fort Dodge will provide the drywall, but that Decker Truck Line Inc. agreed to ship the materials free of charge.

“What a wonderful thing,” Peters said. “The Deckers got ahold of Jonny Koenig and said they would ship it down here for free. That’s huge.”

He said he didn’t factor in shipping costs when the $5,000 was set for the goal of the fundraiser.

Koenig, a health and physical education teacher at Fort Dodge Middle School, met Peters when he taught and coached in Hamburg in 2011.

Peters hopes the drywall can be delivered in the next couple weeks.

He said some people wanted to donate, but were unable to do so electronically.

People who still wish to donate can do so by sending checks to Marnie Simons Elementary, 309 S St., Hamburg, IA, 51640, in care of Matt Peters.

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