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An Update from CEO & President, Charles Redding

Review Charles Redding’s Annual Letter below and check out his latest Global Health Thought Leadership column here.

Dear Friends,

As the world continued to battle the COVID19 pandemic, great hope arrived in 2021 with the introduction of vaccines and enhanced testing. Unfortunately, these lifelines continued to be out of reach for many of the recipients we serve. The common theme that continued to emerge was the lack of health equity within marginalized communities.

Health inequity refers to avoidable differences in health between different groups of people. These widespread differences are the result of unfair systems that negatively affect people’s living conditions, access to healthcare, and overall health status. Health inequity affects people from disadvantaged or historically oppressed groups most severely, but has a negative impact on everyone. The pandemic exacerbated these issues and increased the need for MedShare’s programs and services.

Although the pandemic continued to impact the number of volunteers that supported our efforts and our ability to travel internationally to conduct critical equipment installations and training, MedShare was still able to address health inequities at home and abroad. This was evident via our partnership with Philips to improve Maternal and Child Health outcomes in disadvantaged communities in the San Francisco Bay Area by donating ultrasound machines to local safety-net clinics. Our ongoing deliveries of medical supplies and equipment were critical to many developing countries that were just now feeling the brunt of the pandemic and did not have vaccines and PPE readily available within their communities.

Through our response to COVID-19 as well as our ongoing efforts to address health inequities worldwide, and with the help of our supportive community, in FY21 we were able to improve the lives of 4.7 million people in 41 countries, including the U.S., and provide $18 million in aid. A key component of our continuing COVID-19 response included supporting the international communities and executing an impact partnership with The Walt Disney Company to distribute 1 million children’s face masks to over 150 communities across the U.S., including schools, safety-net clinics and grass-root efforts in low-income communities.

Many of our efforts to address healthcare disparities involved our support of safety-net clinics in the U.S. that were dealing with the fallout of health inequities that are prevalent in underserved communities. MedShare provided over $330,000 in aid to support their efforts. Additionally, over $380,000 in aid was provided to medical mission teams that filled the gap in health systems in underserved communities outside of the U.S.

Our disaster relief efforts reached more than 2.5 million people in FY21. This was primarily due to our response to the explosion in Beirut that claimed the lives of over 200 people and resulted in over 7,000 injuries, as well as continuing efforts to provide PPE as part of our infectious disease control and prevention program, delivering over 37 million units of PPE. Working together with Kaiser Permanente, UPS, The UPS Foundation, and PATH, we were able to donate two oxygen generators to India during a time when oxygen was in extremely short supply and countless lives were being lost.

We are truly thankful for the tremendous support of the many donors, partners, supporters, volunteers, and staff who continue to help us advance our mission and impact so many lives during these unprecedented times.

Our incredible staff continues to work tirelessly to expand our reach and increase our impact. Here are a few key milestones in our journey to help increase access to healthcare for marginalized communities around the world:

 

  • Served over 32 million people to date
  • Provided almost $1.5 million in supplies to US-based free/safety net clinics
  • Equipped nearly 50,000 healthcare professionals
  • Provided nearly $275 million of humanitarian aid to 117 countries, including the U.S.
  • Provided nearly $12 million in aid to Ukraine since the conflict began in February 2022
  • Provided over $18 Million in medical supply donations to 1,783 medical mission teams traveling to countries in desperate need of support
  • Trained 565 Biomedical Engineers/Technicians in 2022 alone (locally & internationally) including End-Users
  • Diverted nearly 5 million pounds of medical supplies & equipment from U.S. landfills.

 

We continue to focus on ensuring efficiencies within operations that will ultimately increase the number of shipments and people we serve.

 

It is truly an honor to serve and I look forward to working to increase our impact on a global scale in the year ahead. Thank you wholeheartedly for all that you and our other countless supporters do to support MedShare’s mission.

Yours in Service,

Charles Redding
CEO & President

 

AR2017 photo

 

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Testimonials

“When you give your money to MedShare you are giving hope, you are giving life.”

Dikembe Mutombo NBA Hall of Fame Member and Founder of the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation

“MedShare is truly a win-win situation.”

 

Dr. William Foege Senior Fellow, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

“The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation’s partnership with MedShare has proved to be one of the most pragmatic, effective and sustainable needs-driven interventions in Africa’s health issues. By innovatively pulling together inventories of medical equipment for needy hospitals in Africa with some of the state-of-the-art equipment that has saved lives in Africa.”

William Asiko President, The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation

“Because lives have been changed around the world, many of them in areas with Kimberly-Clark operations, we are proud to continue our support of this outstanding organization’s mission.”

Beverly Yearack Kimberly-Clark Corporation

“More than a shipping entity, MedShare evaluates each donation… Support like this answers crying medical needs.”

 

John T. Fox President and CEO, Emory Healthcare

“We know that we can rely on MedShare to get our much needed healthcare products to underserved populations throughout the world with great efficiency and care.”

 

Teresa Hacunda Director of Civic Affairs, Covidien 

“This is in appreciation of the fifty hospital beds your outfit donated to Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital. Your offer has gone a long way to improve hospital bed situation and hope that more of such laudable offers may come to improve the quality of service being delivered to our clients.”

Joseph Gyimah Ghana Health Service

“I came as a volunteer with my company and I had a life changing experience. I think it is awesome that MedShare provides medical supplies to developing countries across the globe. I plan to go back and volunteer as an individual. Sorting medical supplies and putting boxes together is a great work out and it is a pretty neat way to learn about the hospital and medical supplies. The volunteer team at MedShare is great in helping you figure out which items go in which pile. I encourage other companies to get their employees out there to volunteer. Volunteering as a team is a great team building activity and it’s very rewarding to see the effect on the lives of people around the world.”

Moji G. Volunteer

“Our longstanding relationship with MedShare International has been an ideal way to help make a positive impact on families around the world. The medical supplies donated through our partnership have a profound impact on several hospitals as many don’t have the means to meet the needs of their patients. MedShare’s mission is near and dear to the hearts of our employees as their own families are treated at these hospitals and they are proud that Kimberly-Clark is able to help make a difference. Supporting causes like this helps us carry out our mission to support communities where we live and work. “

Jenny Lewis Vice-President, Kimberly-Clark Foundation

“The traditional method of filling a container according to what the shipper ‘thinks’ is needed has been made obsolete with your online shopping system. I consider you to be our premier shipping organization. “

David Bell CURE International's Procurement and Inventory Manager