LITTLE FALLS - For the Zwilling family, an attempt at a world-record took a back seat to making a difference in their community.

On Saturday, the family attempted to make the largest ice carousel in the world. The 110-meter carousel was being cut on Green Prairie Lake near Little Falls.

The family intended to have the project done on Saturday afternoon but ran into some equipment issues along the way.

While the Zwilling's could have used the world-record to draw praise and attention for themselves, instead they used it to raise money for kids in need. The family started an online crowdfunding page and accepted food and cash donations for the Flyer Pride Pack food program. The program provides food for kids in Little Falls school district whose families need some extra help.

Chuck Zwilling and his wife Tammy Zwilling said before the event even started, they already had people offering to help raise money.

"A local businessmen called Chuck and said, 'I want to feed all the kids for three weekends'. Chuck asked him if he had done the math on that, and that it would be $1,500. He just said 'yup, that's what I want to donate'."

So much money was raised that the family had already accomplished their financial goal before they even cut the ice.

"We were trying to raise $2,500 for the kids. When I woke up [Saturday] morning we had already raised $2,700, so we decided to set a new goal of $5,000."

Outside of just financial donations, local businesses donated items to make the long day outside cutting the carousel more enjoyable. Multiple all-terrain vehicles were donated to get people to and from the parking lots, an ice house was donated to keep people warm and there was even hot beverages provided.

The family was able to get most of the ice cutting done on Saturday, and said they hoped to have the carousel spinning sometime on Sunday.

Update: The family said they completed the ice carousel around 4:20 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

If you would like to donate to the Flyer Pride Pack follow the link below.

 

 

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