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One night recently while watching the news, I learned about an organization founded more than 20 years ago by a man who collected approximately $250,000 worth of medical supplies and shipped them (at his own expense) to a small clinic near Rio de Janeiro. PROJECT C.U.R.E. was born.
Dr James Jackson was working as an international economic consultant advising developing nations around the world when he was confronted with the great need for medical equipment and supplies in these countries. Patients were often turned away from clinics because of this lack.
Today, PROJECT C.U.R.E. has grown from one man’s collection of supplies in his garage to a charity with four large distribution warehouses in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, and Tennessee (and smaller collection centers in other cities), which has helped the medically underserved in more than 120 countries.
PROJECT C.U.R.E. does not manage or operate international hospitals or clinics; it works with partner organizations—government facilities or private or religious medical facilities—by donating the medical supplies and equipment. What supplies does PROJECT C.U.R.E. need? Pretty much everything, but among them are infant and adult ventilators, pulse oximeters, incubators and warmers, all kinds of bedside monitors, and analyzers.
Naturally, Jackson does not run this project single-handedly anymore—and this is where you could come in. It takes 400 hours to sort $400,000 worth of medical equipment and supplies, and PROJECT C.U.R.E. needs experienced health professionals to help sort, inventory, and test the thousands of pieces of donated equipment and to serve as sorting team leaders to oversee volunteer groups. You can volunteer as an individual, or you can encourage your hospital to form a partnership with PROJECT C.U.R.E.
PROJECT C.U.R.E. works with hospitals and clinics throughout the United States to recover surplus and overstock supplies and equipment. Medical manufacturers, wholesale distributors, and suppliers also can donate new consumable supplies and working medical equipment—both new and used. And for the adventurous, volunteer abroad for a medical service trip through PROJECT C.U.R.E..
I encourage you to donate your time and expertise to help the medically underserved—if not through PROJECT C.U.R.E., then through another charitable organization in your city. Encourage your facility to support volunteerism, if it doesn’t already. There is a lot of talk and propaganda—both positive and negative—about health care improvement here in the United States. Maybe we can have a hand in improving it worldwide. Happy New Year!
—Marian Benjamin
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