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Rev. Ray Wilke receives Point of Light award
August 19, 1998 - Rev. Ray S. Wilke, executive director of the Orphan Grain Train has received the Daily Points of Light award for Wednesday, August 19. The purpose of this awards programs is to recognize outstanding volunteers. Each day, Monday through Friday, a winner is selected somewhere in the U. S.
Each winner receives an official certificate, congratulatory letters from President Clinton and former President George Bush, along with a letter form Robert Goodwin, President and CEO of the Points of Light Foundation.
On receiving notification of this award, Rev. Wilke commented, “Whenever something like this happens, I always feel that I accept these things in the name of the many volunteers who in fact did most of the work. Such is the case with the Points of Light Award. I dedicate it to the Lord and the volunteers.”
Daily Points of Light Award Winner
August 19, 1998
REV. RAY WILKE
Norfolk, NE
Daily Point of Light #1185
Over six years ago, Rev. Ray Wilke had the opportunity to travel to Latvia (a country in the eastern block of Europe, formerly part of the USSR), and visit with the members of the community there. During his stay in Latvia, he saw the great needs of the people, especially for the orphaned children and the poor who were suffering in the new “free” Latvia. Upon his return to the United States, Wilke mobilized members of his church and community to start the OGT movement (Orphan Grain Train), with a goal of providing clothing, food and medical supplies to help the orphanages in Latvia survive.
Wilke is said to have begun his work with a passion. The first container of supplies was shipped early in 1993. Since then, over 200 containers (40-foot) have been sent to the former Soviet Union, Africa, the U.S. and Latin America. These shipments have included the first portable medical/dental clinic in the Republic of Kazakhstan, equipping medical clinics in Panama and providing school supplies for over 74,000 children in Russia, Ethiopia, Brazil and Panama.
Today, volunteer centers of OGT have been established in Wisconsin, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, New York, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Indiana and Colorado. Thousands of men, women and children give of their time and talents to reach out to those in need throughout the world. Volunteers have spent over two million man-hours during the past 5 years working for OGT.
Last year, Wilke made the national news with a project he started to assist ranchers in the Dakotas who had lost many cattle. “One Good Cow” was the program Wilke used to rally ranchers in the Midwest to donate one pregnant cow to a rancher in the affected areas of the Dakotas in an effort to replenish their herds. Wilke led a modern day “cattle drive” into the Dakotas with the first herd of relief animals.