Religion Press Release Services

For Immediate Release
Contact: Michael R. Shannon
703–583–6277 or mandate@comcast.net

Washington, DC – Monday, June 12, the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation will present the ‘Friend in Need’ award to Lynchburg’s WSET–TV and its partner Concord, VA based charity Gleaning for the World (GFTW). The award is the result of a partnership between GFTW and WSET–TV’s Heart of Virginia broadcast that took up rebuilding Katrina victim’s homes after FEMA left off.

Gleaning for the World located and shipped 43 tractor trailer loads of life saving supplies with a value of $6.3 million in the early stages of the disaster. The supplies included bunk beds for FEMA workers, water, food and new clothing for the victims of the disaster and furniture for a Spouse and Child Abuse Center in New Orleans.

The Rev. Ronald T. Davidson, President and Founder of Gleaning for the World, knew that replacing the roof on a hurricane–damaged house was just the beginning. “An empty house is just shell,” explains Rev. Davidson, “to make it a home you have to have furniture and a way for the people inside to start rebuilding something resembling a normal life.”

Since GFTW began the furniture replacement effort shortly after the Katrina disaster, the group has shipped and delivered over 112 tractor–trailer loads of furniture — containing over 20,500 individual pieces — to the Gulf area with a value of almost $11 million. “We began last year by delivering a bed and a chest of drawers, but now due to the generosity of furniture companies that include Charter, River’s Edge, Gable Furniture and International Furniture Distributors, we are installing as many as 25 pieces of furniture in each home,” Rev. Davidson explained. “Now more than 2,000 homes in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas are ready to begin a new post–Katrina life.”

Rev. Davidson pointed out that donors to the Gleaning/WSET effort are receiving over a 6 to 1 return on their charitable dollar. “We have leveraged $1.6 million in cash donations from Heart of Virginia Lifeline and Churches of Christ Disaster Relief into almost $11 million in supplies, equipment, furniture and programming.”

Rev. Davidson will be in the Washington, DC metro area on Monday, June 12th, and will be available for interviews.

Gleaning for the World seeks to provide life–saving support to communities in critical need throughout the world by applying a powerful concept called "Gleaning"™. GFTW provides surplus medical and essential supplies to humanitarian projects worldwide using expedited distribution channels, efficient logistical support and dependable service between corporate donors and mission groups at the lowest possible costs.

For more information, please visit:
http://gftw.org/index.html
http://www.nab.org/Newsroom/PressRel/Releases/050406_sta2006_winners.html

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