8/6/2009 10:06:00 AM Drought spurs domestic relief efforts
COURTESY PHOTOThe Orphan Grain Train has become proficient at converting shipping containers into bedroom, shower, sleeping and storage facilities. Here, some of the shower units are unloaded at a disaster site.
Did you know?
In 2002, the Orphan Grain Train arranged to send 330 semi loads of hay to hungry cattle in western Nebraska.
To learn more about domestic relief efforts, go to http://www.ogt.org/index.php/usreliefefforts/index
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 was the crying of hungry cattle in western Nebraska that prompted the Orphan Grain Train to start its U.S. relief program.
In 2002, cattle had nibbled away the little bit of grass that managed to survive years of drought in that part of the state. Eventually, only the sandy soil remained.
Cattle can't live on sand.
"The Rev. (Ray) Wilke went out (to inspect) and the grass was white," said Richard Jostes, the Grain Train's director of development. Wilke started the Grain Train in 1992.
Eventually, then-Gov. Mike Johanns appointed the Orphan Grain Train as the statewide coordinator for what became Operation Haylift.
Volunteers solicited donations of hay from ranchers and farmers in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. The federal government opened the Conservation Reserve Program acres to mowing. Area farmers donated their time to mow and haul the hay; farm machinery dealers provided much of the equipment.
In 10 months, 330 semi-loads of hay had been delivered to needy ranchers and their cattle.
Since then, the domestic relief program has come to the rescue of people involved in tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, blizzards and the terrorist attack of Sept. 11.
The efforts are coordinated by Vern Steinman and Aaron Walter, both retired Norfolk businessmen who share an office in the corner of the Orphan Grain Train's corporate headquarters in Norfolk.
When a disaster happens, the two wait for someone from the area to call and ask for assistance.
"They call and say, 'This is what we need,' and we try to fill that need," Walter said.
Often, the biggest need is for storage containers, office space, housing, kitchens, clinics and other facilities for the volunteers who often pour into the area.
Those needs prompted the conversion of 40-foot shipping containers and semi-truck trailers into such facilities.
In some cases, the trailers and containers were converted by local volunteers, while students at Northeast Community College remodeled others.
"The best shower units are old refrigerator trailers because the floor is corrugated," Walter said.
A trailer used to transport hanging meat was converted into a kitchen.
In the past four years, around 40 of the renovated containers and trailers have been shipped to the Gulf area, and some are being used in unusual ways.
For instance, because most homes and other structures along the Gulf were either destroyed or heavily damaged, fishermen had no place to do their laundry and store their nets.
"We put them along the east side of the coast and rigged them to have water for washing machines," explained the Rev. Dave Buss, who oversees operations at Camp Restore and Camp Biloxi, where volunteers efforts are coordinated in New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss., respectively.
The containers are hauled to the sites on the flatbed semi trailers driven by volunteer drivers, some of whom are also Northeast students.
In addition to coordinating the placement of converted containers, Walter and Steinman arrange for shipments of fresh foods and other supplies to disaster areas.
When the camps in New Orleans requested fresh meat, the two saw to it that a semi-truck load of hams was shipped there.
They also shipped loaders, Bobcats and other equipment.
In addition to responding to disasters, the Orphan Grain Train supports a number of ministries here in the country.
For instance, in 2008, 45 semi-loads of supplies were shipped to The Ysleta Mission and Cornerstone Children's Ranch on the Texas border. Another 13 semi-loads were sent to aid Native Americans in South Dakota and New Mexico.
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Tomorrow: Grain Train efforts lead to silver linings in the face of natural disasters.
Reader Comments
Posted: Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Article comment by:
esther e. rowley
I am in awe of all the goods supplied to those in need all over the world by Orphan Grain Train. It is a tremendous organization that has been blessed many times over with willing volunteers and generous supplies. Many thanks to Rev. Ray Wilke and all those on staff to carry out the purpose of the organization.
