{"id":395632,"date":"2026-07-12T13:49:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T13:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/395632\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T13:49:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T13:49:14","slug":"the-vikings-of-solvang-fundraise-to-aid-those-burdened-by-medical-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/395632\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vikings of Solvang fundraise to aid those burdened by medical debt"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Around noon Saturday, 100 Vikings sat in formation in Solvang, Calif., a Danish-immigrant hamlet founded<\/a> in 1911 about 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The marauders, some horned and others wearing red jerseys, gathered and rowed.<\/p>\n

They sat on the ground of a local park. Not far away lay a replica Viking longship, a smaller version of the vessel used by their spiritual and ancestral kin to explore and raid from North America to North Africa a millennium earlier.<\/p>\n

At that moment, these Vikings joined millions of others globally rooting for Norway, which faced old rival England in the quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup in Miami.<\/p>\n

Call it Scandinavian solidarity.<\/p>\n

You’re reading the Essential California newsletter <\/p>\n

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\u201cJust because Denmark didn\u2019t make it to the World Cup didn\u2019t mean we\u2019d be on the sidelines too,\u201d said Kim Jansen, chief of the group called the Vikings of Solvang<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s rowing event was part rally, part awareness campaign for the Vikings of Solvang, whose medical fundraising is welcomed by those they serve.<\/p>\n

Jensen and vice chief Al Ferrer spoke with Essential California about his group\u2019s philanthropy in between sets of rows.<\/p>\n

Who are the Vikings of Solvang? \"Kim <\/p>\n

Kim Jensen, chief of the Vikings of Solvang, , leads on the drum as members perform the Norwegian row at Solvang Park in Solvang, Calif., on Saturday before the Norway and England World Cup game.<\/p>\n

(Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

The nonprofit organization consists of about 200 volunteers, and there are chapters of Vikings scattered throughout the West Coast that easily put members in the thousands.<\/p>\n

Santa Barbara\u2019s club aims on \u201cadvancing the well-being of Santa Barbara County citizens through medical assistance and volunteerism for the past 50 years,\u201d according to its description<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Oftentimes that\u2019s paying a medical bill \u2014 an unpaid $5,000 ALS treatment, or $8,000 in dental repairs post a car accident \u2014 according to Jensen and Ferrer.<\/p>\n

Other items purchased by the group have included wheelchairs, lifts and payments for cancer treatments.<\/p>\n

Showing them the money<\/p>\n

In that endeavor, the Vikings donate between $200,000 and $250,000 in needs-based grants annually, Ferrer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kids with cancer; it\u2019s the neediest of the neediest that we help,\u201d Ferrer said.<\/p>\n

The group raised around $100,000 at its charity golf tournament in June<\/a>, according to Ferrer.<\/p>\n

The Vikings have given away about $3.2 million in grants since their inception in 1974, according to Jensen.<\/p>\n

Donations range from a few dollars to a record $1.67-million gift in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Everyone is welcome<\/p>\n

The Vikings\u2019 aid also goes beyond medical assistance.<\/p>\n

The group hosted a free luncheon last December for more than 1,000 kids in the area with Autism spectrum disorders, their families and teachers, Ferrer said. There, the Vikings also distributed gift cards and vouchers totaling more than $450 for the more than 200 teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe need is always there, and it\u2019s always great,\u201d Jensen said.<\/p>\n

About every two months, the group also hosts dinners for its most elderly guests, something that amused the 80-something Ferrer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was older than almost all of them,\u201d Ferrer said, \u201cbut that\u2019s fine. We had about 60 people a week ago, and it was great to connect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why not cheer for Norway<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s gathering was a \u201clast-minute\u201d call by Ferrer and Jensen, who were inspired by seeing traveling crowds of Norwegian fans performing the team\u2019s row.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought, \u2018Why not us too?\u2019\u201d Ferrer said. \u201cLet\u2019s cheer on those Vikings and let people know about what we\u2019re doing. It\u2019s a win-win.\u201d<\/p>\n

The week\u2019s biggest stories \"U.S. <\/a> <\/p>\n

(Mario Tama \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

World Cup 2026California nuttinessCrime, courts and policingWeather, fires and healthWhat else is going onMust-readOther must-readsFor your downtime \"Photo <\/a> <\/p>\n

(Illustrations by Lindsey Made This; photograph by Corday Productions \/ Days of our Lives)<\/p>\n

Going outStaying inL.A. Affairs<\/p>\n

Get wrapped up in tantalizing stories about dating, relationships and marriage.<\/p>\n

Have a great day, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n

Hailey Branson-Potts, staff reporter
Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew J. Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters<\/p>\n

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Around noon Saturday, 100 Vikings sat in formation in Solvang, Calif., a Danish-immigrant hamlet founded in 1911 about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,2299,1085,891,2300,2297,340,2303,63,2302,1086,1459,2301,2298,74,225,315,688],"class_list":["post-395632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-civic-revolt","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-days","tag-essential-california","tag-israel","tag-l-a","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-may","tag-pandemic","tag-part","tag-president-biden","tag-red-county","tag-san-diego","tag-state","tag-time","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}