A Note Regarding Donations & Supplies

Students often ask if they can bring materials for the people with whom they’ll be working. While we appreciate the sentiment, we have found that providing the community with donations can significantly change the dynamic of GLA's relationship with the community. We want both the community and our students to focus on the relationship that we are cultivating, as opposed to monetary benefits or physical goods.

The most important thing to bring is your skills, compassion, and open-mindedness! While we know that the desire to donate physical goods comes from a place of compassion, these types of donations can often have unintended negative effects on the community and local economy. For example, bringing clothing donations to a small community that relies almost exclusively on local textile industry can have a devastating impact on the livelihood of the very people that the donations were meant to help. 

GLA International Foundation

Many of our students return from their program with a desire to continue helping – and this is exactly why GLA was created! However, GLA is not designed, nor equipped, to handle large monetary donations and/or the donation of physical goods such as books, clothes or other materials. GLA is unable to help facilitate donations to any country after a program, as shipping physical goods to a developing country can be challenging and often times the shipping, taxes, and customs fees will cost more than the goods themselves. It is also important to consider that the needs of a community are always changing. Situations can change drastically between the time GLA students see the community, return home, hold a fundraiser, and send the items back to their program country. 

However, we do have an alternative! We highly recommend checking out the GLA International Foundation! This is a non-profit organization that serves as a direct channel to support the service projects that our students become passionately involved in each spring break and summer. Because GLA covers all overhead costs, 100% of every donation to our Foundation goes directly to important service work happening around the world. We partner with different organizations in the countries in which GLA operates. 

Other Resources & Food For Thought

For more information about donations, check out these articles:

• Does Foreign Aid Create Dependency States?

• Somalia’s Agony Tests Limits of Aid

• Philanthropy

• Ensuring That Gifts Go Where They’re Needed

• How Can We Help the World’s Poor?