Orphan Grain Train 
The information on this page was last updated 2/9/2026. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
Orphan Grain Train is a Christian volunteer network that ships donated food, clothing, medical and other needed items to people in 73 different countries including 40 states in the USA.
Contact information
Mailing address:
Orphan Grain Train
P.O. Box 1466
Norfolk, NE 68702-1466
Website: www.ogt.org
Phone: (402)371-7393
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 311614650
CEO/President: Ray Wilke
Chairman: Bill Begeman
Board size: 9
Founder: Ray Wilke and Clayton Andrews
Ruling year: 1999
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 05/31
Member of ECFA: No
Member of ECFA since:
Purpose
Grain Train volunteers gather donations of clothing, medical supplies, food, Christian literature, and other aid to meet real needs. The Orphan Grain Train movement is a loving response to Jesus Christ's example as a servant and His love for us.
Mission statement
In loving response to Christ, the Servant, the Orphan Grain Train movement encourages and enables God's people to share personal and material resources in bringing Christ's name and character to needy people both far and near. Sometimes that character expresses itself as a word well spoken, sometimes as a bandage well applied, and sometimes as a child well fed.
Statement of faith
Articles
| 3/6/2026 | Orange County Rescue Mission Resigns from ECFA |
Donor confidence score
Show donor confidence score details
To understand our donor confidence score, click here.
Transparency grade
C
To understand our transparency grade, click here.
Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Relief and Development
| Category | Rating | Overall rank | Sector rank |
| Overall efficiency rating | | 242 of 1420 | 15 of 114 |
| Fund acquisition rating | | 210 of 1420 | 15 of 114 |
| Resource allocation rating | | 117 of 1420 | 7 of 114 |
| Asset utilization rating | | 962 of 1421 | 68 of 114 |
To understand our financial efficiency ratings, click here.
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 6% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 5% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 98% | 99% | 99% | 99% | 99% | 100% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 5% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 86% | 98% | 98% | 98% | 98% | 98% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 99% | 91% | 97% | 99% | 83% | 106% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 83% | 89% | 95% | 96% | 81% | 103% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | 1% | 9% | 3% | 1% | 17% | -6% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | 6% | 12% | 4% | 2% | 26% | -10% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 7% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 1.50 | 1.29 | 1.42 | 1.56 | 1.28 | 1.79 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 1.16 | 1.71 | 1.47 | 1.27 | 1.23 | 1.30 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 2.06 | 2.21 | 2.09 | 1.98 | 1.58 | 2.33 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 11.75 | 307.12 | 271.73 | 121.48 | 102.73 | 190.58 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.06 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 4.90 | 5.42 | 5.71 | 6.02 | 7.54 | 5.13 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 8% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 1% | 0% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 54% | 77% | 70% | 64% | 77% | 56% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | |||||
| Assets | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Cash | $8,688,979 | $11,281,948 | $12,617,965 | $11,055,944 | $7,502,102 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $12,142,731 | $10,993,808 | $12,433,537 | $14,145,826 | $10,397,407 |
| Short-term investments | $1,434,473 | $493,658 | $452,286 | $510,285 | $123,059 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $22,266,183 | $22,769,414 | $25,503,788 | $25,712,055 | $18,022,568 |
| Long-term investments | $592,615 | $455,564 | $324,466 | $279,350 | $0 |
| Fixed assets | $15,188,090 | $10,236,640 | $6,422,045 | $5,623,212 | $5,445,797 |
| Other long-term assets | $8,266 | $8,266 | $13,920 | $0 | $0 |
| Total long-term assets | $15,788,971 | $10,700,470 | $6,760,431 | $5,902,562 | $5,445,797 |
| Total assets | $38,055,154 | $33,469,884 | $32,264,219 | $31,614,617 | $23,468,365 |
| Liabilities | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $72,499 | $83,793 | $209,936 | $250,281 | $94,567 |
| Other current liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current liabilities | $72,499 | $83,793 | $209,936 | $250,281 | $94,567 |
| Debt | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total liabilities | $72,499 | $83,793 | $209,936 | $250,281 | $94,567 |
| Net assets | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Without donor restrictions | $33,643,255 | $27,877,678 | $24,491,503 | $25,237,899 | $20,107,502 |
| With donor restrictions | $4,339,400 | $5,508,413 | $7,562,780 | $6,126,437 | $3,266,296 |
| Net assets | $37,982,655 | $33,386,091 | $32,054,283 | $31,364,336 | $23,373,798 |
| Revenues and expenses | |||||
| Revenue | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Total contributions | $53,285,957 | $48,511,066 | $50,936,125 | $48,253,927 | $39,545,516 |
| Program service revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | $340,872 | $363,691 | $232,425 | $241,112 | $119,813 |
| Other revenue | $76,027 | $70,812 | $37,037 | $125,183 | $20,991 |
| Total other revenue | $416,899 | $434,503 | $269,462 | $366,295 | $140,804 |
| Total revenue | $53,702,856 | $48,945,569 | $51,205,587 | $48,620,222 | $39,686,320 |
| Expenses | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Program services | $48,022,244 | $46,547,818 | $49,381,946 | $39,548,181 | $41,003,805 |
| Management and general | $564,006 | $578,588 | $543,359 | $579,972 | $536,914 |
| Fundraising | $541,866 | $536,896 | $530,421 | $380,243 | $387,286 |
| Total expenses | $49,128,116 | $47,663,302 | $50,455,726 | $40,508,396 | $41,928,005 |
| Change in net assets | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Surplus (deficit) | $4,574,740 | $1,282,267 | $749,861 | $8,111,826 | ($2,241,685) |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | $4,574,740 | $1,282,267 | $749,861 | $8,111,826 | ($2,241,685) |
Compensation
| Name | Title | Compensation |
| Grant Schmidt | Vice Preside | $94,572 |
Compensation data as of: 5/31/2025
Response from ministry
No response has been provided by this ministry.
The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 2/9/2026. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
In 1992, Rev. Ray S. Wilke, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Norfolk, Neb., volunteered with a group of Lutherans who traveled to Latvia and Russia to help with a church mission. There they met people with "no hope" in desperate need of spiritual, emotional, and humanitarian aid after the breakup of the former Soviet Union. The Latvians begged Rev. Wilke to help them more after he went home and he promised he would. Wilke envisioned a train that would travel through America's Midwest, picking up cars of donated grain along the way, until it reached a port from which the grain would be shipped to feed starving orphans in Eastern Europe. Upon his return to the United States, Wilke contacted Clayton Andrews, president of Andrews Van Lines, a worldwide transportation company, and told his story. Together, they founded Orphan Grain Train. "He came to me and asked, 'Do you think something can be done?'" says Andrews. "I said, 'Yes, I know how we can help those people.' I never hesitated and it took off from there." As it turned out, railroad operating protocol made the original grain train concept impractical, but Orphan Grain Train was born nonetheless. Within a year Grain Train's first shipment, a container of clothing and quilts, arrived in Riga, Latvia.
Since 1992, Orphan Grain Train's 27 regional locations have delivered more than 60.3 million fortified-rice meals and 5,066 shipments of humanitarian aid to needy people in several states and 73 countries on 5 continents. Orphan Grain Train built a mobile chapel with help from a grant funded by LCMS Disaster Relief division for St. John's Lutheran Church in Pilger, NE after their church was demolished by a F4 tornado. OGT has delivered more than 16 containers of aid and food into Ukraine since the start of the invasion in 2022. We have also delivered 30+ containers of aid & food to recipients in surrounding countries which serve their people in need, Ukrainian refugees and take supplies into Ukraine. All this would not be possible if it wasn't for our dedicated and generous donors and volunteers.
We continue to serve many families affected by tornadoes and flooding in Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina by providing building materials, food and volunteer village. The mission of Orphan Grain Train is uniquely dependent upon dedicated volunteers, many of whom have given numerous years of service for the sake of others. Since 1992, more than 4.6 million hours have been volunteered!
Orphan Grain Train is a recognized service organization (RSO) of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS). Many shipments have been in cooperation with Lutheran Hour Ministries, LCMS World Mission, LCMS World Relief, and other Christian ministries.
Program accomplishments
Needs
https://www.ogt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/outputFile1_1.pdf