International (MNN) — There’s a party going on in Mt Joy, Pennsylvania today.
It’s Global Aid Network’s annual packing party to prepare donated goods for their mission teams to distribute to needy families worldwide. But this year, the party is more significant than usual.
After nearly 15 years of borrowing buildings in the Lancaster, Pa., region, Global Aid Network is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of their own 66,000 square foot distribution center.
The ceremony takes place today, right in the middle of the packing party, which runs from October 10 – 22. More than 6,000 volunteers are scurrying around the new warehouse putting together care packs for the upcoming GAiN mission teams. Volunteers will also be helping to pack and prepare items that will be used for relief for Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita victims.
In previous years, GAiN-USA had between two weeks and one month to use the borrowed warehouse, limiting the amount of goods they could accept. They would have to turn away thousands of dollars in material aid throughout the rest of the year because they lacked space.
That is not the case any longer. The warehouse will enable GAiN-USA to receive, sort and pack donations year-round. Charles Debter with GAiN-USA is excited about the increased opportunities: “This is a new day for Global Aid Network to be able to receive more items, process them there at the warehouse, and then ship them out to various countries where they are greatly needed and where we have mission teams going.”
GAiN-USA works in partnership with local churches around the world to distribute the aid. Debter says, “When the churches are able to offer something to an orphanage or to a hospital or a school or prison, it opens the door for that local church…It opens the way for them to go into places that they might not otherwise have an entryway to go and allows them to share the Gospel, and it gives us the chance to be a help in their ongoing work.”
If you would like to donate items, your time or support GAiN-USA financially, go to their website by clicking on the highlighted link above.
