Andrew Van Ginkel provided the exclamation point last weekend as the Vikings put the finishing touches on a dominant 28-6 win over the New York Giants. He read a screen pass to perfection before the snap, snatched an interception out of midair near the line of scrimmage and raced 10 yards the other way for a touchdown.

As meaningful as the moment was for Van Ginkel in his debut with the Vikings, it might have been even more meaningful to his community of Rock Valley, Iowa. Though the small town of roughly 4,000 people isn’t necessarily ripe with Vikings fans, they are extremely loyal to their own, especially Van Ginkel, after the way he stepped up when they needed him most.

After catastrophic flooding devastated Rock Valley this summer, Van Ginkel sprung into action to help the small town that raised him.

“I had a lot of family and friends who were affected,” said Van Ginkel, who lives in Rock Valley in the offseason with his wife Samantha and their sons Leo and Ripken. “Just seeing a lot of them hurting and struggling it was very important for me to help.”

All of the destruction caused by the flooding wasn’t for a lack of preparation on the part of mayor Kevin Van Otterloo.

The small town experienced major flooding nearly a decade ago, so Van Otterloo tried to prepare Rock Valley for the worst. As conditions started to worsen, he made an effort to fortify the levee with sandbags, enlisting local football players, local firefighters, and anybody else who wanted to lend a helping hand.

“Then the rain started to come down,” Van Otterloo said. “We just couldn’t keep the water out.”

It was unprecedented.

The streets started to flood in the middle of the night and residents scrambled for higher ground. The scene that sticks with city administrator Tom Van Maanen looking back on it is seeing nearly 50 payloaders driving around Rock Valley rescuing people from their homes.

There were 500 homes affected in total along with dozens of local businesses that might never be the same.

“This wasn’t just a flood,” Van Maanen said. “This was complete devastation.”

This image provided by Sioux County Sheriff shows City of Rock Valley, Iowa on Saturday, June 22, 2024. Gov. Kim Reynolds sent helicopters to the small town to evacuate people from flooded homes Saturday, the result of weeks of rain, while much of the United States longed for relief from yet another round of extraordinary heat.(Sioux County Sheriff via AP)

So many homes destroyed. So many memories lost. So many people left searching for answers.

A glimmer of hope emerged in the aftermath as Rock Valley rallied together to pick up the pieces.

There were farmers essentially going door to door in their payloaders to help haul debris to the landfill. There were local churches offering to cook meals for volunteers. There were skilled laborers driving in from the surrounding area to pitch in wherever they were needed.

“This is the way it is in Northwest Iowa,” Van Otterloo said. “They come from everywhere.”

That included Van Ginkel. He was in the Twin Cities when the flood occurred and immediately drove down to help. Whether it was cleaning out homes destroyed by water damage or providing food for volunteers in the area, Van Ginkel did whatever he could to make an impact.

“They could’ve easily dealt with their own and been done,” Van Maanen said. “You saw him all over the place helping people wherever they needed it. He was there with everybody else mucking stuff out of people’s basements. That’s leadership by example as far as I’m concerned.”

Maybe the biggest thing Van Ginkel did was partner with Mercy Chefs, a nonprofit that specializes in providing meals for victims of natural disasters. They set up shop at Faith Reformed Church and got to work churning out roughly 5,000 meals on a daily basis.

“Just wanted to help out and provide resources however I could,” Van Ginkel said. “There were a lot of people struggling.”

The meals weren’t just providing sustenance for the volunteers. They were feeding the soul of Rock Valley.

“I think they were here for almost a month,” Van Otterloo said. “It was unbelievable. I’d never seen anything like it. If it hadn’t been for Andrew and Samantha, I’m not sure we would’ve got through this.”

As inspiring as it was to see Rock Valley to come together a few months ago, Van Otterloo made it clear that there is still so much work to be done.

“It’s going to be a few years before we get back to halfway normal,” Van Otterloo said. “No matter what it’s never going to be the same.”

Those that want to help can donate to Friends of Rock Valley online either via PayPal or Venmo. The donations will be distributed to the people in Rock Valley affected by the flooding.

As for Van Ginkel, he’s doing his part, as well. He recently set up Van Ginkel Impact Foundation and plans to continue to help with relief effort in Rock Valley for as long as it’s needed.

“Just trying to make an impact on people’s lives,” Van Ginkel said. “I want to help out in any way possible.”

He’s doing that even when he doesn’t know it.

“We’re immensely proud of Andrew and everything he’s accomplished,” Van Maanen said. “I saw his interception returned for a touchdown was shared all over on Facebook. It put a smile on a lot of people’s faces down here and those types of distractions are nice. It’s good for us to experience some joy.”

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