Volunteers collect donated medical supplies from hospitals and clinics.
GOAL.
Our aim is to establish a network of volunteers in local communities to collect surplus medical supplies from healthcare providers in the US and redirect them to doctors in Ukraine. Medical supplies in the US are thrown out in alarming volume due to legally required expiration dates on packaging. Nearly all of these supplies are fully functional and desperately needed in Ukraine where funding is critically low for all medical supplies including basics like disposable needles, protective equipment, wound dressings, etc.
HOW TO GET STARTED.
1
Identify a community coordinator
This vital role is the cornerstone of our program’s model. Community coordinators are the link between local collection efforts and our Bozeman supply center. A community coordinator should be a highly motivated individual who can communicate regularly and effectively with our shipping manager and oversee the collection volunteers in their area. When healthcare providers in their community sign up to participate, the coordinator assigns a manageable number of provider locations to each collection volunteer (4–5 locations per person). The coordinator must have a storage space approved by the program for collected supplies in preparation for shipping them to our Bozeman supply center.
2
Find collection volunteers
This is a fantastic way for nearly anyone to get involved in humanitarian relief efforts! All that is required for a collection volunteer is to check in by phone each week or every other week with the contact at the healthcare provider locations they’ve been assigned to see if items have been contributed to the collection bin. When bins are ready for pickup, collection volunteers deliver the supplies to their community coordinator to be forwarded to the Bozeman supply center and on to Ukraine.
3
Prepare collection bins
Once you have your initial team of collection volunteers and community coordinator established, contact our program manager (details below). We will work with the community coordinator to provide funding and labels for collection bins as the program expands in your area.
4
Ask providers to participate
Healthcare providers love our program! We’re not only supporting humanitarian aid efforts but also working to reduce medical waste. Call or walk in to speak with healthcare clinic or department managers about participating in our program. Direct them to our sign up form below to register their clinic and begin contributing.
5
Start collecting medical supplies!
GOT YOUR TEAM READY TO GO?
...or if you have other questions, contact:
Reduce medical waste.
Provide crisis relief.
URE's Medical Supply Program
OUR GROWING NETWORK.
STRUCTURE.
Our program model was developed to make the decision to contribute supplies as simple as possible for healthcare providers. When a clinic or hospital department signs up to participate, one of our volunteers provides the location with a supply collection bin. Then anytime the healthcare staff identifies surplus supplies, they place them in the collection bin instead of throwing them out. Our collection volunteers in the community check in regularly with the location contact and do the legwork to gather up the supplies as they are contributed. A community coordinator heads the effort in each local area. Collection volunteers deliver collected supplies to the community coordinator who prepares and ships them to our Bozeman supply center where regular shipments are assembled from community contributions. The shipments are sent on to the humanitarian aid centers we partner with in Ukraine who deliver them to Ukrainian doctors and field medics. Our program makes sending surplus medical supplies to Ukraine instead of the landfill as easy as placing them in one of our collection bins instead of the trash bin. We handle the rest.
Ukrainian doctors unboxing equipment donated by Billings Clinic