How is GIK useful when products are not always the same from shipment to shipment?
Because GIK is donated products, usually excess inventory, for items such as clothing it is not common to have repeated donations of the exact same styles and patterns. In fact, World Vision United States may often not even be able to obtain the same kind of product from one year to the next. Many National Offices, however, have found this fluctuation to be beneficial because it helps to prevent dependency by the recipients. Dependency occurs when community expectations are raised in anticipation of receiving in the future what they have received in the past. Product differentiation actually undermines this negative potential and assists National Office staff in developing even more creative means of using GIK in their programs.
