Teddy Bears for Children!

Gleaning For The World is blessed to have so many children and adults from churches, schools, businesses and other groups who donate their stuffed animals. This is one of our very special projects!

Just last week, Court Street United Methodist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia had their six young people in their youth group gather their collection. Before they knew it, more than 300 different stuffed animals were collected.

This group of kids rallied up their friends and family to be a part of it. They visited our warehouse for the first time to see how our their donation will be processed. It was great to see their excitement knowing they are helping to bring hope to others.

Also, a couple drove more than three hours from Hampton, Virginia to drop off their collection from their Aldersgate United Methodist Church. Pastor David Cook and his wife brought 80 stuffed animals with them.

And lastly, a family of eight helped sort all of the recent teddy bear donations! Tim, Julie, Emily, Johnathan, Rachel, Joshua, Judah and Sarah spent a few hours inspecting each one to make certain it meets our criteria. We want to make certain each stuffed animal is perfect for each child who receives one.

If you would like to get involved with this life-changing project, visit our website for more information. And if you cannot donate any stuffed animals, please help us transport them to children in need by clicking here. Thank you to all who have made a difference in a child's life!

Celebrate America

What better way to honor our nation's birthday than to attend the annual Celebrate America event at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Thousands and thousands of people flocked in throughout the day on Sunday. Great music, fun activities for the kids, good food and fellowship kept everyone busy.

Gleaning For The World was honored to be a part of the event. We ran a booth throughout the day. It's no surprise that face painting attracted the children. Our two Gleaning workers, Justin and Mandy, painted hundreds of faces. Anything from turtles to unicorns to the Dallas Cowboys star to the American flag to even the logo for Liberty University was requested.

We collected donations at the event to assist our life-saving programs at Gleaning. More than $300 was donated! This amount will provide approximately $21,600.00 worth of supplies into the hands of those who need them most. We are able to do that because every $1 contributed helps provide approximately $72 of supplies. Less than 1% of donations is applied to administrative costs leaving the other 99% to provide program support.

If you didn't make it out this year, make certain to plan to attend Celebrate America next year. We would love the opportunity to speak with you to tell you how Gleaning For The World is making a difference.

If you'd like to help save a life, please contact us!

A Host of Volunteers

Gleaning For The World is very pleased to report that numerous volunteers spent hours at our facility helping our team to sort, pack and rack shoes... 30,000 pairs of shoes to be exact!

With a very small staff at our operation, we count on hundreds of volunteers each month to help us carefully inspect each item. We want our receiving organizations to have no trouble when the shipment arrives at their location. With our 97% efficiency record and better with all of our loads, we are determined to make it easier for those distributing these supplies so that people in need can receive aid in a very quick time.

The process is still underway here in Concord, Virginia. We are just about through sorting and packing. As soon as the paperwork is finalized with custom regulations, these tractor-trailer loads of supplies will be shipped to help better lives in Sudan and Pakistan. You may already know that people living in these locations do not have access to supplies like we do.

In Pakistan, approximately two million people have fled their homes because of Taliban forces. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to die from walking for days to refugee camps without the necessary supplies to survive. While shoes are one of many things they need, we are working with humanitarian groups to save as many people as we can. These new shoes will protect their feet from infections and other diseases.

In addition, Gleaning recently shipped out one tractor-trailer load of medical supplies, protective gear and food to people in Mexico dealing with the swine flu outbreak. The World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic on Thursday, June 11th. These supplies will help doctors administer to those sick. And since Mexico is believed to be the epicenter of the flu, this shipment will also help guarantee protection from the flu spreading to our families in America.

Thank you to all the volunteers who have made this possible! If you would like to help, either by sorting supplies in our warehouse or by making a financial contribution, please contact us as soon as possible. Together, we can make a difference!

Gleaning teams up with Samaritan’s Feet to bring relief to displaced Pakistanis

More than two million people in Pakistan have fled their homes in the last few weeks due to fighting between army troops and Taliban militants in Swat Valley. According to news reports, this is the largest movement of refugees in the world in the last 20 years and the largest movement that has ever taken place in Pakistan.

In many communities, the Taliban have moved in and given the people hours to vacate their homes or be killed. The people have walked for days without food, adequate clothing, medical care or normal supplies to survive the trip to the camps. Humanitarian organizations working with the U.S government are shipping supplies to the camps as rapidly as possible. Since this is normally the time to harvest their crops, the people could be left this winter without adequate food.

Rev. Ron Davidson, President of Gleaning For The World (GFTW), received calls from mission groups over the weekend who reported that this could be the largest humanitarian disaster we have faced in years. Hundreds of thousands of people could be lost if we cannot get the shoes, clothing, medical care and food to these people immediately. Some humanitarian groups responding to the humanitarian disaster predict that hundreds of thousands of people will perish without immediate assistance. Even with the humanitarian efforts, millions of innocent people will suffer because of the inhumane callus actions of Taliban forces.

According to Manny Ohonme, President and Founder of Samaritan’s Feet, “We are honored to be working with Gleaning to save as many people as possible. The people in Pakistan have done nothing wrong and yet they face horrible conditions and possibly death. Samaritan’s Feet is providing 10,000 pairs of high quality shoes and will do everything possible to help save these innocent people.”

Through the partnership with the non-profit organization Samaritan’s Feet, GFTW is providing $400,000 worth of shoes to the Pakistanis. Many of these people do not have shoes. The people have travelled many days to the refugee camp and will have to walk back home when the fighting subsides. These shoes are desperately needed, and will be appropriate for the conditions.

Also, GFTW is preparing a tractor-trailer load of medical supplies worth more than $500,000. A second medical load has been requested from humanitarian groups and will be prepared as rapidly as possible. Unfortunately, sickness and disease have the potential to spread quickly in these camps. And those who are wounded from the conflict will need immediate medical attention. These medical supplies will contain surgical instruments, first aid kits and personal care items that can be used by missionary doctors to help treat the people and prevent diseases from spreading.

The first two shipments will be sorted, boxed and loaded this week. They are scheduled to be shipped to Pakistan by Monday, June 8th. If you are interested in volunteering to help us pack and ship shoes and other supplies to these innocent Pakistanis, please contact Mandy Wood, Volunteer Coodinator at Gleaning For The World, Inc.

434-993-3600 (o) mandy@gftw.org

Monthly Update

A Special Report from Ron Davidson

A missionary in Mexico City, Mexico called Gleaning For The World seeking help. He had a conference at local churches and schools to share the creation story and to remind the people that there is a God that loves them, and a God who is there to help in the middle of a major flu epidemic. There was fear throughout the community that a second wave of the flu had broken out. The hospitals and clinics were full of sick people. Even the halls were filled and running out into the courtyards. The men would not go to work fearing that they would catch the flu and cause their own children to die.

The answer to the problem was masks for the families. But even this simple solution was impossible. Among the 20 million people in Mexico City, not one mask could be found. Without the masks, the men could not work and feed their families. If they went to work, they were worried they could cause their children to die.

Gleaning For The World delivered 10,000 masks to the missionary within five days so his church could be in ministry. This simple gesture allowed the men to go back to work, feed their children, protect their families from the swine flu and protect the people from the fear of spreading the flu to others. The greatest benefit is the church was being the church to the community. When the largest urban area in the world was without protective gear for its people, it was the church that earned the right to share the Gospel by living out Christ to the people.

Gleaning For The World could react rapidly to help people in need because you supported our work around the world. We are placing more than $1 million in protective wear in Mexico.

Our goal is two fold: 1) to help people in need and 2) to help stop the spread of the swine flu. While we are preventing the flu from spreading in Mexico, we are also keeping our own children safe in America because of this generous gesture.

Your dedication to this organization has provided hope and healing to so many people. You may never meet those who received support through GFTW. On behalf of those who are alive today because of your contributions, thank you.

Please continue to support Gleaning For The World as we help change and save lives.

Sincerely,

Ronald T. Davidson

President & COO

Check out what your support has provided!

The last five months at Gleaning For The World have been amazing. Even with a troubling economy, 80 tractor-trailer loads of life-saving supplies were provided to people in need here in the United States and overseas. Recently, many more shipments were provided domestically. And you have played a major part in making this possible.

In May alone, $730,000.00 worth of food, shoes, blankets and water were shipped to locations across the U.S. to places like Indiana, Tennessee and Virginia. Nearly 5,000 pairs of shoes were provided to New York and almost 5,000 blankets went to Charlotte, North Carolina. These states received support for the growing homeless and unemployed. GFTW also responded to the flooding in West Virginia with 42,000 bottles of water.

International relief:
Mexico - 10,000 masks
Guyana - medical supplies, candles
Haiti - porridge mix, medical supplies and stuffed animals
Guatemala - dried soup mix, medical supplies, clothes and candles
India - medical supplies, shoes, personal care items and stuffed animals

In addition, GFTW committed to send 30,000 pairs of shoes to children in South Sudan who need immediate help. Through several partnering groups, many lives will be changed because of this commitment.

Providing Hope in West Virginia

Six counties in West Virginia were declared a state of emergency after heavy rains forced major flooding in early May. More than 300 buildings were destroyed, many people were left without homes or power and mudslides have left behind major damage, according to news reports. Gleaning For The World is lending a hand.

Through the distribution partnership with the Church of Christ Disaster Relief Effort based in Nashville, Tennessee, Gleaning loaded and shipped two tractor-trailers of needed supplies to help those affected by the flooding. One shipment provided more than 42,000 bottles of water that was purchased through Sam’s Club in Beckley, West Virginia and delivered to the area. The second load was filled with 1,900 disaster blankets, more than 2,300 leather athletic shoes and hundreds of candles.

GFTW has responded to every major disaster since the Tsunami that struck Sri Lanka in 2004. We can quickly get needed supplies together and shipped to any location around the world. Our mission is to help people in need - whenever and wherever a disaster strikes.

Innovative

For the second day, Gleaning For The World has attended the Innovate Church Conference at Thomas Road Baptist Church. It has been an amazing time getting to know other pastors, missionaries and ministries. It's inspiring to learn the innovative ways that other Christ believers are doing for His glory. There is a lot to take in during this short period of time. Our goal for this conference is to make new relationships to do more work in the ministry for the Kingdom of God.

A Big Bag From A Big Heart

The most interesting thing happened this afternoon at our Gleaning For The World office. A group came to volunteer for a couple of hours in our warehouse sorting supplies. One of the group members, nine-year-old Everette, approached us with a large bag of coins.

Everette explained to us that he had been collecting for quite some time now. Instead of buying a cool toy, he decided to do something bigger. He donated his ziplock bag of coins, which added up to be $50! And since GFTW can take every $1 donated and multiply it by 72 times, his bag of coins will help provide more than $3,500.

What a remarkable boy! His donation will help provide food and medical supplies to a family who may not have eaten in days, weeks or months. His donation will also help provide a stuffed animal to a child who has never owned anything, much less a toy. Little Everette is a blessing to those families and to Gleaning.

Gleaning Prevention

Gleaning For The World (GFTW) has been in constant contact with doctors and organizations working in Mexico. Specifically, these groups have been helping with the swine flu outbreak. According to two different doctors working in Mexico, the flu appears to be mutating and may cause another wave of the virus to spread.

Currently, GFTW has more than 3,000 masks available in our Concord, Virginia warehouse. We are trying to locate more quickly. We are providing doctors in Mexico City with 10,000 masks to prevent this flu from spreading further than it already has. While another wave to spread is still uncertain, we want to help physicians prepare for the worst case scenario.

If you would like to help our mission, through financial contributions or product donations, please contact Gleaning For The World. Thank you for your support!

Helping Children Miles Away

80% of it's people follow Hinduism. About 13% follow Islam. Among the other religions followed, only 2% know and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. The place...India. But Gleaning For The World (GFTW) has a small part in changing that.

Scott Ray, Convocation Director at Liberty University (LU), is heading up a team of college students heading for India. Just yesterday, Scott and a LU student came to GFTW to sort and pack supplies needed for the trip. Medical and school supplies were provided. Simple toothbrushes and toothpaste will be given to many who have never brushed their teeth their entire lives. Also, 200 pairs of new shoes will be handed out! A simple pair of shoes can help prevent ringworms and other parasites from entering the feet, which would ultimately end up killing a person, if not treated.

These supplies were donated by GFTW and will be distributed to people in need by LU students. This is "earning the right to be heard," as Pastor Jonathan Falwell often states from the sanctuary in Thomas Road Baptist Church. We are providing for the needs and then providing the Gospel. God takes care of the rest. Just another day in the ministry.

Swine Flu Preparations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 27, 2009 / Concord, VA – According to recent news reports, the swine flu virus is suspected to be the blame for more than 100 deaths in Mexico. Nearly 40 cases of the virus have been confirmed in the United States. The virus has been reported to be airborne, and it is mutating from person to person. President Obama has declared an emergency declaration.

Gleaning For The World (GFTW) is watching the potential spread of the virus and is taking preventative measures to help protect people who may become affected. Currently, GFTW has $3.5 million in medical supplies with protective gear that is now on hold for immediate distribution in the Concord warehouse. GFTW will maintain these supplies until the state of alert is lifted. GFTW is communicating with humanitarian groups like the Red Cross to see if any of these supplies are needed in the U.S.

GFTW is also contacting medical companies across the nation to locate and rapidly receive more supplies that may be needed. GFTW will make certain several tractor-trailer loads of protective gear and supportive supplies are available to the Central Virginia community. If the virus does not affect our area, the supplies will then be made available to other localities in the United States.

GFTW prepared a procedural guide two years ago to be used in case there is a major out break of a virus. GFTW is updating this documentation and is on immediate call up to be ready if and when the virus spreads throughout Central Virginia.

Rev. Davidson, President and COO of GFTW placed the entire staff on 24/7 call up in case the supplies and/or the logistics services are needed.

“We have been receiving reports today that the potential for this virus to spread throughout the United States is increasing. We will do everything possible to assist people in Central Virginia if our services are needed, and then we will work to assist other non-profits in caring for people affected by the virus in other locations. Our staff is always prepared to do whatever is necessary to help people in need.”

Gleaning Update

Because of your dedication, Gleaning For The World continues to provide hope in the United States and overseas. Medical supplies, nutritional supplements, and furniture are just a few of the life-saving supplies we have already placed this year. And we have much more work ahead.

In March, Gleaning has been active in providing our partnering groups with the supplies they need. Domestically, nearly 6,000 lives have been touched because of our organization. Shoes were placed in Northern Virginia, water was provided to a Central Virginia ministry, perishable food was sent to Southwestern Virginia and another shipment of furniture was provided to Hurricane Ike victims in Texas. Already this year, Gleaning has shipped nearly 20,000 blankets to groups that respond to the homeless. We realize more people will find themselves without jobs and homes, and we are committed to provide blankets, personal care items and other supplies our partnering groups need.

Internationally, we shipped 38,000 pounds of soap to people in need of better hygiene to prevent diseases from spreading in El Salvador. GFTW shipped almost $2 million of medical supplies and other much needed products to help support thousands of people in Guatemala struggling with poverty. In Zimbabwe, we sent more than half of a million dollars worth of medical supplies to help hospitals, clinics and villages in desperate need. Gaza received nearly $1 million in medical supplies for innocent people recovering from the recent conflict. We are also committing $1 million worth of medical supplies to Togo, Africa.

As you can tell, Gleaning For The World is working hard to make sure those in need receive aid. And we are grateful you have helped to make that possible. Please keep our ministry in your thoughts and prayers. Your continued support is key to reaching more people!

Sincerely,

Ronald T. DavidsonPresident & CEO

Gleaning For The World and Thomas Road Baptist Church Announce Merger

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 7, 2009 (Concord, Virginia) – All over the globe, there are desperate cries for help. Right now, there are millions of people suffering in poverty, hunger, sickness and natural disasters. That’s why Gleaning For The World (GFTW) was founded more than one decade ago… to care for the sick, clothe the naked and feed the hungry. GFTW wants to continue this effort with full-force for years to come. And GFTW needs help to make that possible.

That’s why Gleaning For The World is proud to announce a merger with Thomas Road Baptist Church (TRBC) and Pastor Jonathan Falwell in Lynchburg, Virginia. For 53 years, TRBC has had a tremendous impact around the globe. TRBC can provide a tremendous resource to GFTW… people. Through this transition, GFTW can locate more life-saving supplies in the U.S. and overseas that can support more humanitarian organizations working in the field in an efficient manner. In addition, the merger will bring more financial stability during this economic downturn. And this means more lives will be changed and saved.

Pastor Falwell said he was impressed with how Rev. Ron Davidson, GFTW president and chief operating officer, stepped down as pastor of a 1,200-member church in order to start the organization from scratch. Pastor Falwell added, “Ron has led GFTW to be recognized for the second consecutive year by Forbes.com as the nation’s top charity in terms of both fundraising efficiency and charitable commitment. I am excited about the opportunity for our church to get involved in providing assistance to many hurting people as well as having new opportunities for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them.”
Rev. Ron Davidson, GFTW President and COO, is honored to be a part of the new direction for the ministry he founded.

Rev. Davidson stated, “I approached Jonathan Falwell last November about the potential of joining the two ministries together. It just made sense to me that two organizations who share a common goal could be more effective in meeting the humanitarian crises, if we worked together. TRBC has the same integrity and Christian witness we have tried to build at Gleaning. They also have the desire to reach the poor and care for people who are hurting and need help just to survive. Together, we can expand our outreach and touch the lives of more people.”
Pastor Falwell says he envisions “big growth” at GFTW for years to come.