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Orphan Grain Train Annual Report for 2005
Orphan Grain Train finished 2005 with a record number of international and domestic semi-load relief shipments. The year 2005 also marked the “1,000th” shipment since Orphan Grain Train began.
Special contributions in response to the Asian Tsunami and hurricanes Katrina and Rita made it possible to increase the number of Christian humanitarian relief semi-load shipments from 118 in 2004 to 142 in 2005. In addition to this, 48 smaller trailer-loads were shipped to disaster areas during the past year, including flood survivors in the Ohio River Valley and Katrina survivors.
Ground was broken in March for a new office and volunteer center across the street from the Norfolk, Neb. warehouse. Construction began in June after several rain delays and continued until Christmastime. Laborers for Christ volunteers, affiliated with LCMS World Mission, will finish the interior this spring.
Last summer Orphan Grain Train once again shipped “By Kids For Kids” Global Care Packages for Lutheran Hour Ministries. Several thousand of these school supplies kits were shipped to Vietnam. A thankful response from Lutheran Hour’s receiving partners in Ho Chi Minh City was quickly forwarded to Orphan Grain Train. In addition to Vietnam, other new countries shipped to in 2005 were Mongolia, Ghana, and Uganda.
In September Orphan Grain Train shipped “Load 1,000” to Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. Gary Thies of Mapleton, Iowa, and Tim and Rita Nickel from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, came to Norfolk to celebrate the loading of the historic “1,000th” shipping container.
Four new regional satellite divisions were added during 2005. Maryland was chartered in February, and South Dakota and Lincoln ( Neb.) began in June. In December the Rocky Mountain Division “spun off” the new Colorado West Division, bringing the total number of regional satellite divisions to eighteen.
The growth of warehouse locations and Orphan Grain Train volunteers has come when the needs of the United States Gulf Coast are at a critical stage. Katrina and Rita combined are probably the worst physical disasters in American history. Rebuilding has begun where clean up is finished. New volunteers have joined in the effort to move the extra shipments of food, supplies and equipment. As of December 30, more than 50 Katrina/Rita semi-loads have been sent to Gulf Coast relief centers.
Thousands of volunteers, working across the country and around the world, make up Orphan Grain Train. Operating costs are low, since volunteers do most of the daily work of the organization. Orphan Grain Train’s Int’l office in Norfolk, Neb., has four wage-earning staff members. Five full-time office staff are volunteers.
Orphan Grain Train’s name and character are explained by the words of Christ recorded in the Gospel of John chapter 14, verse 18: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”