Daily Dose of Sultnpapper 02/05/18> Orphan Grain Train?
The things I come across to discuss vary greatly in subject matter. So I’ll throw another one into the mix with today’s discussion. Who here knows of the Orphan Grain Train? Has anyone ever heard of the Orphan Grain Train before now? I didn’t think so, had it not been for Hurricane Harvey last year I wouldn’t know of OGT either.
From the name it is pretty reasonable to make an educated guess that OGT is some sort of charity, and it is just that. The sultnpapper family belongs to a Lutheran Church right here in our area, I started to say “little area” but the adjective “little” no longer applies. Our church was founded back in 1872 and my wife’s ancestors were founding members, so it is reasonable to say we have some history with the church. I personally have been attending the church since 1994, I won’t be in line for any perfect attendance awards but I make it to church more weeks than not. Let’s get back to OGT for the moment.
Orphan Grain Train is a charity that helps people in need all around the world. When Hurricane Harvey struck back in the late summer of 2017 it displaced several families in our immediate area, including the head pastor of our church and his family. Our church was quick to respond during the storm and opened its facilities to people who had been forced out of their homes. It became an active shelter and housed people for the better part of a month after the storm until better accommodations could be secured for those who relied on the church in their time of need. About ten days after the rain stopped a shipping container showed up in the parking lot of the church with the name Orphan Grain Train emblazoned on the side of the container. My wife volunteers at the church at least one day a week, during the weeks after the storm her days increased to four or five days a week. She even recruited my youngest boy to help; one of the jobs he worked on was unloading this container from OGT. This container contained about 40,000 pounds of food for the church food bank; which had been struggling to meet the needs of the 1,200 families that had turned to the church for assistance. Since that time I have seen the container switched out, once it had been emptied, for a new container that was fully stocked again with food. I know that a total of three or more containers have been provided by OGT to our church.
So who are OGT and how did our church become a benefactor of this charitable organization? It turns out that OGT is a non-profit Christian organization that was initially formed in 1992. Their mission is to provide food and clothing to those in need as part of their Christian humanitarian effort. The organization was founded by Rev. Ray Wilke when he returned from a missionary trip to Latvia and Russia in 1992. Since that start in 1992 OGT has helped people in need across 66 countries. One very impressive thing to note about OGT is their ability to operate on a very small percentage of the donations that they receive, only 3 cents of every dollar they take in is used for overhead and expenses. This would have to rank them among the top in the world of charitable organizations in efficient use of the funds collect and disbursed for the intended purpose of helping others.
I took a look at the latest annual report on OGT’s website and it shows that in their fiscal year that ran from 6/01/16 to 5/31/17 OGT shipped over 200 fully loaded 40 feet long shipping containers of food and supplies to needy folks in the USA and around the world. What is even more impressive when you investigate further is that Facebook and Twitter are there main means of communicating their message to the world. I’m not saying that FB and Twitter are making this organization, by no way shape or form could that be the case, on FB they have less than 3,000 followers and on Twitter it is less than 50. The impressive part is that they are accomplishing all they do with such SMALL numbers on these social media sites.
Who here on steemit would be willing to help this charity with an upvote or two if they opened an account and kept us informed of their needs and how they are helping and where? They have a proven track record of helping, I can testify on their behalf because I’ve seen their work in my community through my church.
Steemit has a charity site here with @steemcharity , it appears to be dormant, the last posting was sometime in 2017. One thing I did find interesting on the @steemcharity page was a list of the worst charities and how those charities use solicitors to raise funds. While the list was a few years old it still is relevant since most of the charities more than likely still operate the same way currently, so I have copied it and included it here 
source:https://www.alternet.org/activism/25-americas-worst-charities-plus-tips-how-avoid-getting-scammed
Pretty disgusting seeing those numbers and how these are nothing more than revenue generators for the solicitors, very little money actually being used for the intended purpose of the donors for sure.
Stop and think for a moment how crypto currencies and block chain technology could transform the charitable giving landscape, where all the transactions of the charity would be available for scrutiny on the block chain. I think a lot more charities would be more inclined to use the money as intended by the donors if their finances were on an open ledger. It would also make it very easy for donors to send money using the block chain to these charities.
OGT puts 97% of the donations to work for the intended purpose; steemit.com could really make a big difference if the community would get behind a charity like OGT or any other quality charitable organization. If you’re willing to support OGT with your votes please leave a comment & resteem this post if you feel this to be a worthy undertaking in helping them. I would like to help this charity but I can’t do it alone and make any meaningful impact, together though the Steemit community could make a major positive impact. You never know when you or your community might end up being in need of OGT support and assistance.
Through my contacts with our church I can get to the decision makers of OGT and discuss how steemit and steem currency can help them in their mission. The important thing is to be able to gauge what the support level of the community in here will be, if it is only a handful of people it might not be worth the energy, if the number is in the hundreds or thousands then it should be an easy conversation and we may just end up changing charitable giving all around the world. What better way is there to show the world the value of steem and the steemit community?
What are your thoughts, will you be willing to support a cause like this?
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
https://upcoin.com/?ID=859ba2cf
Photos property of @sultnpapper
List of Charities : property of alternet.org link to source attached directly below image
Great idea mr Papper & I would certainly support this if they open an account on steemit.
Sad though that there are those who abuse/misuse funds for their own need or rather greed :(
Will resteem this.
Thank you so much Lizelle, very much appreciated on both parts.
Since I know my Upvote can't help, then I shouldn't comment... :) It's not my fault the Superbowl didn't go how you wanted...
Even if your upvote isn't a "high value" your support can be given in other ways such as resteeming, you know that DC. Yea, the super bowl didn't go my way, and I never thought about blaming you.... until now that you mentioned it.
OGT sounds like a charity I would support that is indeedca very low I overhead
I remember seeing that or a similar article and it’s shocking the overheads and salaries for top employees of some of them thstbis why I am so selective these days
Thanks Jay, I will count you as a potential positive supporter.
for sure you can drop potential I will support
Done.
I absolutely would! What an amazing charity! Operating on only 3%!!!?!?!? And comparing that with the other charities that you mentioned. The others should be ashamed of themselves (but of course - they're not!)
I would be happy to resteem this! Definitely get the word out to someone on their staff and help them build a steemit account! I think they would do much better to post updates on here! (and just think - if the 3500 followers on twitter and facebook agreed to come on here only to vote for them! who knows what could happen for them!)
Thanks for sharing this! :) (and resteeming for you!!)
Thank you @dreemsteem. I never even thought about the OGT followers on those other coming over, I was more focused on acceptance from the community here, they would surely have a great start if they bring those they already have with them. I appreciate your support and the resteem.
Right??? could you imagine if someone started on this platform with a following of 3500??? hahahaha i mean - if people already follow their cause on the other sites - once they knew how much of an impact they would have here ??? wow! you never know :) But you're right - i think the activity would make the community ALREADY HERE notice them even more! It's places like this that need this kind of support! hope they make it over :) have a great day!!!
Obviously the 3500 wouldn't have much voting strength starting out but if they got engaged here it could quickly end up being a substantial amount, and some areas that OGT is sending help to already has places accepting steem at some of the local businesses. Thanks again.
really!?!?!? that's incredible! I love that places want to accept steem now :)
and you're right - but hmmmm let's see when i started out i think my vote was worth $0.003
If you multiply that by 3500 people (of course ALL people would have to come over and vote) but that's $10.50 a post!!!!! That's more than MOST people make on their posts!!! Wow. I think i need to get 3500 followers hahahahahahaha (and that's JUST the 3500 loyal followers - not even including any more that would join - like me!) you really need to sell them on this! :)
I am going to work on it. There is nothing to loose on my part, and everything to gain on theirs if they will listen.
absolutely!!! maybe you can even help them by being their account administrator in the beginning until they can get into the swing of things! :)
Yes, I would upvote them if OGT came onto Steemit!
Thank you, the OGT have really made a difference for the local community here. I'm just trying to find a way to give back to them.
As much as I want to give more my upvote isn't worth it now. I do hope that your organization will grow more to help other people. You have a big heart and this is a great project. :)
This post was about if OGT were to join steemit and show people how they are helping around the world what the community support them. So, the question is in the future would you? I wasn't looking for votes on this post, as the note at the end explained, just trying to gauge what the support could be for this charity.