Who is the humanitarian charity called Globus Relief?

Answer 1

History of Globus Relief (www.globusrelief.org):

Globus Relief (hear after Globus), founded in 1996 in Salt Lake City, Utah is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) Charity. It is the creative brainchild of Robert Allen Haltom Jr. who, as a successful Utah businessman, wanted a way to "give back" to the world some of the good he had received in this life. No mention of Globus and its origins can be done without recognition of Kelly N. Farmer.

After the formal application and approval process of establishing Globus with the IRS, Haltom asked Farmer to join him as a Founder of Globus. Mr Haltom did this to show appreciation, admiration and to honor Farmer for all he had done in Haltom's life. Kelly Farmer was not only Haltom's life and business mentor but, at the time, Kelly Farmer was also one of Robert Haltom's best friends as well as his Father-in-Law.

Together, Both Haltom and Farmer worked side by side to lay the ground work for what would become a self-sustaining, national and international humanitarian powerhouse Charity. Globus, as with most organizations, had a very humble beginning. Its financial patron saints were Kelly and Elaine Farmer and their family who gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to sustain and grow Globus during the first decade of it's development.

It is significant to mention that in the early years, some friends and business persons closest to the Founders saw little sense to the Globus mission and were of a mind that the Founders could use there combined efforts and money in other more profitable areas. Notwithstanding, the mission and vision of Globus grew and over time captured the imaginations of others who joined the organization. Called the "Gang of Seven" by Haltom, this band of board members made up the core leadership and remained involved year after year giving and giving tirelessly to the forwarding of the Globus mission. Each in his or her own way creating their a distinctive mark and legacy within the organization. It is one matter to have the idea or even have the funding to back up and idea but this Gang of Seven took the vision and defined, refined and established a world class, self-sustaining charity winning multiple awards and recognition both nationally and internationally for its low cost of operation and high impact in delivering exceptional humanitarian relief.

The "Gang of Seven" were as instrumental in the nurturing of Globus and are recognized as such by both the Founders. The Gang of Seven included, Mr. Ashley Robinson, Mr. Daniel Driggs, Mrs. Julie Farmer-Haltom, Mr. Daniel Henrie, Mr. Dennis Van Luween, Mr. Lester Essig and Mr. Brandon Anderson.

The Globus Mission:

We are a humanitarian medical resource organization. We are committed to partnering with other charities, NGOs, corporations, hospitals and governments working to improve the delivery of health care throughout the world. We accomplish our mission and vision by providing four key deliverables:

· Assessing

·Consultation

·Acquisition, Packaging and Distribution (APD)

·Bio-Tech Solutions and Training

What does Globus Relief do?

Globus is a partnering organization. On the acquisition side, Globus will partner with corporate entities, usually within the medical, pharmaceutical or equipment fields. Corporations donate valuable and highly usable goods to Globus for placement in a medical humanitarian situation. Most often donors provide goods and resources that are being replaced by a newer device or product within the US market place. While these items are considered "yesterdays wonder product" they are today's godsend in countries who have not had any such advances or access to technologies-- in many cases--for years or a decade.

Working with Globus Donors on the acquisition side, we gather in medical supplies and products otherwise may go into our landfills. Instead of sitting on shelves and eventually being discarded, Globus facilitates a partnership and directs resources into the hands of medical professionals and others who immediately can use these resources to provide services to the worlds poorest and most vulnerable populations.

So on one hand we have Corporations who partner with with us on acquisitions of resources. On the other hand we have doctors, nurses, NGO's, charities, civic and religions organizations--to name a few--who receive these resources that are specific to their organizational needs and fulfill there respective mission using the medical devices and goods provided by Globus. For example, A hospital chain may donate beds that are being swapped out of a hospital in the United States. These same hospital beds will be gathered in, inspected, repaired--if necessary--and re-directed to a partner group--such as a hospital in Romania or Africa who will have a specific need for this king of resource. It is a win-win-win!!

Now imagine this story magnified by hundreds and thousands of times and you will sense the impact that Globus has with its partners. It may be true that you won't hear as much about Globus Relief in the Media. Being in the news is not our mission. But you can be sure where there is a major humanitarian effort in the world Globus resources are there facilitating the success of our partner organizations.. In addition and just as important, you can be sure where there is a minor humanitarian issue where in humans are suffering, Globus will be working to give that community as much attention and those the media picks up and news worthy.

Globus is driven by a medical core competency, but Globus also does its best work not through competing with other groups but by cooperating with them. It is through leveraging and synergy that we accomplish the good we are able to do in the United States and around the world.

Who does Globus help?

Globus does not typically work with individuals as much as it works with IRS approved and/or International governmental organizations. The core competency of Globus is in locating, providing and distributing medical health care & pharmaceutical preparations to entities who will provide the same resources to the poor and needy in a humanitarian setting.

Within the first decade of its inception, Globus Relief assisted dozens upon dozens of organizations and groups in nearly 100 countries around the world. To contrast its growth, during year-one, Globus disbursed three quarters of a million dollars in resources. During the 2009 year, Globus disbursed $40 million dollars in resources. This can be done because of a highly effective partnering system created between Corporations, Globus and the medical professional providers serving the less fortunate.

How does Globus support its activities?

As you may well know most organizations will have a development or fund raising staff. Globus also does but the big difference is that Globus Relief has another highly creative solution to the ever present need for fund-raising to cover the operating budget of this multimillion dollar operation.

In the early years, the Globus "Gang of Seven" was tasked with the project of devising and perfecting a system for internally funding Globus activities. It is worthy to note, at this time, Globus had reorganized its governing board. Initially the Board was made of of notable members of the community. Notwithstanding, the Board was very reactive rather that proactive in the forwarding of the Globus mission.

Sensing the lack of progress, Haltom stepped in and with Ashley Robinson, redefined the makeup of the Board of Trustees. Haltom and Robinson recognized that those who often are asked to sit on Boards are typically individuals connected to money or influence in the community. They also recognized that the initial Globus Board was made of these kinds of individuals and that initial Board was more reactive than proactive in solving growth hurdles. Haltom having been a successful entrepreneur and business builder assigned Ashley Robinson to identify young, successful entrepreneurs who knew the challenges and risks of growing a business. Robinson made the observation that even though Globus was a "non-profit" the word following it was often "business"--Non-profit business.

And so, the hunt was on to find younger business persons who had the enthusiasm, vision and heart to forward the mission of Globus. From this effort, the "gang of Seven" was formed. Each of the members had a specific expertise in a relevant business area that would benefit our growth. More importantly, shifting from a Board that was reactive to a Board made up of proactive entrepreneurs made ALL the difference in the Globus development and success tthat followed.

The Gang of Seven, devised a system wherein Globus would contribute an average of .90 cents on each dollar a humanitarian member group took in resources. The member group would then kick-in and cover the additional .10 cents and pay that portion to Globus as their contribution. Prior to this time Globus Officers discovered that giving everything free to groups was creating a welfare mentality among its membership organizations. In addition, when everything was free, the receiving groups took far more in resources than they needed, leaving the Globus shelves bare for the groups who would come in thereafter.

The result of asking member groups contribute and "to have skin in the game" allowed Globus to bring in a fee for each wholesale dollar of resources that was out by Globus. The unforeseen benefit to Globus was that now with member groups paying a partial fee for each item they received from our warehouse, Globus officers discovered that its member groups became more judicious in what they were ordering and only taking the items they needed and opposed to what they wanted.

The fee system or "skin in the game" model created a healthy balance between "needs" and "wants" within its partnering groups. More importantly, Globus was now taking in a fee that would eventually help fund the operations of the organization.

Most items are donated to Globus Relief. But, often to fulfill an order for a humanitarian mission, Globus would have to go beyond its donor source and order and pay full price for medical resources in order to complete a members needs request for a scheduled humanitarian mission. This is where the fee became helpful. It allowed Globus the resources to acquire these extra resources and effectively move the its member projects forward.

Additional to asking each member group to pay a fee, Globus would, at times, receive a donation that could not be used in a medical humanitarian mission. With the permission of the original Donor, Globus would resell these items and return these funds to our acquisition account. Again, this reduced the overhead of Globus and ultimately the costs for our members. Each year as this system was refined and improved, more and more of the Globus budget was covered eventually covering the operating costs of the building and staff wages among other items.

The Gang of Seven created this unique and "out of the box" solution to an ongoing problem that most charities face. As a result, when the economy turns down, Globus does not waiver in its ability to help its member groups or the poor at the end of the user chain. It is a godsend to us and what is more, all other dollars that are donated to Globus can be used for helping member groups who cannot pay the fee and/or purchasing everyday medical supplies needed for their mission projects. From the Founders perspective, the entrepreneurial Board is the best sort of Board to have when building a new Charity. The Gang of Seven took the seemingly impossible funding problem and created a reasonable, sustainable solution for managing and funding a growing Charity.