8/3/2009 9:42:00 AM The Orphan Grain Train a 'hands-on mission project'
DENNIS MEYER/DAILY NEWSThe Rev. Ray Wilke (left) and Clayton Andrews started the Orphan Grain Train in 1992. Here they stand at the opening of the warehouse in Norfolk in front of one of the Orphan Grain Train trailers.
Global outreach
In the past 17 years, the Orphan Grain Train has shipped 63,200,000 pounds of Bibles, clothing, food, medical supplies and much more to needy people living in all parts of the world.
In the past three years, the Orphan Grain Train those goods have gone to the following countries: Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua
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The Orphan Grain Train's Regional Divisions are located in: Colorado West, Rocky Mountain, Indiana, Iowa West, Kansas, Minnesota South, Minnesota North, Missouri West, Missouri/Illinois, Lincoln, Central Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Mid-Atlantic, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, California/Arizona/Nevada, North Dakota, Maryland
Editor's note: Since its inception in 1992, the Orphan Grain Train has shipped more than 63 million pounds of goods around the world and has expanded to include 19 divisions situated around the country. This week, the Daily News is looking at some of the people behind the Norfolk-based organization and some of their special projects.
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It sounds so simple.
Just find out what people need and ship it to them.
In reality, the process of getting Bibles, clothing, food, medical supplies, farm equipment and much more from the United States to the Africa, India, Asia or even New Mexico or Arizona is far more complicated.
But almost every day, Clayton Andrews and the staff at the Orphan Grain Train figure out how to get it done.
"If you don't work with the right people, the merchandise will end up on the black market," Andrews said.
Andrews is no rookie when it comes to getting merchandise from one point to another. The 89-year-old owns and operates Andrews Van Lines, which is situated just a block from the Orphan Grain Train offices in the downtown Norfolk area.
While Andrews still stops at the Andrews Van Lines office occasionally, he spends most of his time at the Orphan Grain Train office, where he oversees the process of transporting tons of donated goods around the world.
Andrews didn't necessarily plan to spend his retirement years managing a non-profit organization.
In fact, in 1992, when the Rev. Ray Wilke told Andrews he wanted to find a way to get a shipment of goods to Latvia, Andrews was going to avoid getting involved.
"In my mind, I was going to say no, but I said yes and the Orphan Grain Train was born," Andrews said.
Wilke's desire to send aid to the country that formerly was part of the Soviet Union stemmed from a visit there that same year. The people begged for help, said the senior pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Norfolk.
He envisioned a train that would travel through America's Midwest, picking up cars of donated grain along the way, until it reached a port from which the grain would be shipped to Eastern Europe.
Wilke kept his promise to the Latvian people. Within a year of that visit, the first container of goods arrived there.
"Since that time, with God's blessing and a generous outpouring of time, talent and contributions, the Orphan Grain Train has become a hands-on mission project," Wilke said.
The name reflects a passage from the book of John in the Bible that says, "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you."
The organization is now a mission of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
Although the Orphan Grain Train does use trains to transport containers of goods from major cities to ports, it also relies on trucks, ships and boats to get merchandise around the world.
The process can result in piles of paperwork and numerous e-mails and phone calls - all meant to ensure that the merchandise gets to the registered recipient on the other end.
In fact, before a shipment leaves a warehouse, Andrews and his crew make sure the items being shipped are allowed into the country of destination. If not, once it arrives, the shipment may sit on the dock, and the government may charge a daily storage fee.
"The hardest part is getting it through customs," Andrews said.
Once they confirm that all of the items will be accepted, Andrews and his staff have to make sure there is someone at the other end qualified to take responsibility for the goods.
"We can't ship a 40-foot container to an individual. It has to be sent to a registered organization," Andrews said.
Most of those organizations are faith-based.
And while the Orphan Grain Train is known for shipping clothing, medical and school supplies and other small items, it also is proficient at getting much larger items to sites around the world. Examples include farm equipment to the Middle East, portable medical clinics, kitchens and dormitories to Asia, an MRI machine to Nicaragua and a fresh water system, clinic and hospital to Africa.
And they haven't forgotten the needy in America.
In addition to responding to natural disasters here and abroad, the Orphan Grain Train routinely sends aid, for example, to Indian reservations in New Mexico and Arizona, the Dakotas and Montana and to coal miners in the Ohio Valley. While some of that aid originates from Norfolk, much of it comes from one of the 19 divisions scattered around the country.
Established and operated by volunteers, the Grain Train divisions often serve the people in their area.
For instance, the California-Nevada-Arizona division has sent clothing to needy in Tijuana, Mexico, while the Ohio division gathered furniture and appliances for seminary students in the area.
Those regional divisions also gather and ship goods overseas.
In 2008, the Orphan Grain Train shipped 147 semi-loads - 63 that were sent overseas and 84 sent in response to domestic disasters. In addition, 52 smaller 14-foot or 16-foot trailer-loads and van-loads were dispatched in response to floods and tornadoes here in the United States.
In the past 17 years, the Orphan Grain Train has shipped around 63.2 million pounds of merchandise to needy people. That translates into 1,580 semi-loads.
Richard Jostes, the director of development for the Orphan Grain Train, estimates that it costs between $9 and $12 to ship each box, and each 40-foot container holds 1,200 boxes.
Funding comes in the form of donations from churches, organizations and private citizens, including, for example, three children in Maryland who sold lemonade to raise money to buy three pairs of boots for orphans in Russia.
But what makes the Orphan Grain Train stand out from other service organizations is its ability to operate with just five paid staff members. In fact, less than 3 percent of the $10 million yearly budget goes to wages and other administrative costs.
"Less than 3 percent spent on administration is due to an all-volunteer staff nationwide, with only five paid personnel at Norfolk. Our outreach activities in recipient countries and U.S. projects are also carried out by volunteers," Jostes said.
Clayton Andrews says he knows why the Orphan Grain Train has grown to be one of the most successful service organizations in the world.
"It's easy," he said. "We're doing God's work."
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Tomorrow: Get a glimpse of the impact the Orphan Grain Train is having on the lives of orphans, prisoners and others in Russia.
