Fairchild Equipment donates freezer to fight rural hunger

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MOORHEAD, Minn. — When Fairchild Equipment moved into their Moorhead location that used to house Schwan’s, a company known for their frozen food, they knew that some adjustment on the building would need to be made.

Fairchild Equipment sells forklifts, aerial lifts and other equipment, so their needs for the building would be vastly different compared to Schwan’s, which had a 1,500-square-foot walk-in freezer in the warehouse. But Fairchild Equipment didn’t want the freezer to go to waste.

“It took up the whole shop, so we had to figure out what we’re going to do with it,” Jeremy Guthmiller, Fairchild Equipment Moorhead branch manager, said. “Van, he’s our president, he just decided, let’s get a hold of, reach out to some food banks &mldr; Great Plains got back to him and said they’re very interested.”

Great Plains Food Bank was excited about the donation, but unfortunately, it did not have enough room for it at their Fargo location. Luckily, one of their partners, the North Dakota Rural Electric Cooperatives Foundation, did have space for the massive walk-in freezer. The foundation took the freezer and is using it in one of their grocery hubs, which will help fight rural hunger. This freezer will allow more fresh, whole food to be readily available to people in the area.

“We’re just grateful for Fairchild Equipment’s donation and recognizing that this is a big need, that infrastructure is costly, and their in-kind donation made a big benefit for our partners,” Darby Njos, Great Plains Food Bank communications manager, said.

The freezer itself has a value of $75,000 and could have made Fairchild Equipment a pretty payday, but the company decided that bettering the community was worth more than selling the freezer.

“Well, obviously, the first idea was just maybe sell it and make some money. But then we thought, one of our core values is contributing to the community,” Guthmiller said. “So that’s kind of why we came up with that.”

This donation comes during a crucial time in the fight against hunger. The Great Plains Food Bank recently reviewed its 2025 numbers and the data showed they saw an 11% increase from 2024 in the individuals that they served. Njos says the statistics reflect the difficult choices people are currently making between transportation, health care or groceries. She also added that the Great Plains Food Bank does not anticipate those numbers coming down anytime soon.

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