Felling Trailers Trailer for a Cause auction raises nearly $5,000

Joe Kostreba, Sauk Centre, Minn., placed the winning bid of $4,850.99 for a FT-3 drop deck utility trailer during the ninth annual 2021 Trailer for a Cause Auction conducted by Felling Trailers, Sauk Centre. The auction benefitted the Minnesota Fire Fighters Foundation (MNFFF), a nonprofit organization. The auction ended at 7 p.m. on the 20^th anniversary remembrance of 9/11, Saturday, Sept. 11.

Kostreba, a local contractor, has participated in previous Trailer for a Cause auctions, but never pushed for the winning bid.

“This year, it just made a little more sense for a few reasons,” Kostreba said. “One reason was for business needs. I needed to replace my aging current FT-3 (2000 model year). The second was for personal reasons. When I was about five years old, my neighbor Dave Kane, a volunteer firefighter, was killed in the Arc fire (Noah’s Arc Restaurant in Sauk Centre, now Diamond Point). I was young, but I still remember the day like it was yesterday, as the procession of cars showed up at the neighbor’s home to notify the family of the tragic accident of Kane and Zabel.”

Kane and Doug Zabel, both volunteer firefighters for the Sauk Centre Fire Department, passed away when the structure they were standing on collapsed under the heat and stress of a raging fire on Jan. 7, 1985.

“The Minnesota fire fighters risk their lives every day to try and help everyone they can save, whether it’s fires or accidents they are called to,” Kostreba said. “My wife (Blaine) was an EMT in Sauk for many years and worked alongside many firefighters.”

The auction started on Sept. 5 and Kostreba was one of the first bidders to jump in on the bidding action. Over the next seven days, the bidding action continued with 21 bids placed throughout the auction. Kostreba will be putting the FT-3 trailer to use hauling materials and equipment to and from job sites when needed. About three years ago, he bought the family business, Kostreba Contracting, from his family due to his father becoming ill and not being able to continue operating the business.

“I had worked alongside my dad building the business since I was 14 years old,” Kostreba says. “Twenty-seven years later, I’m still doing the same thing I grew up doing, helping families in Sauk Centre and the surrounding communities building new homes, remodeling projects and anything they may need to be done. The trailer is going to be very well taken care of, almost too nice to use. The city of Sauk Centre has been a very great place to work and raise our family and operate our family-owned business with my wife, Blaine, and daughter, Taylor.”

One hundred percent of the $4,850.99 will benefit the Minnesota Fire Fighters Foundation.