Collecting and Shipping Medical Supplies

Mano a Mano's Twin Cities volunteers seek donations of surplus medical supplies and

equipment from health care providers and suppliers in Minnesota.

The supplies are new items, usually in their original packaging, that become surplus for varied reasons: they may have been misrouted, overstocked, replaced by supplies from new vendors or delivered in damaged boxes. Volunteers pick up these items, then pack and prepare them for shipment. Equipment is lightly used and serviceable.

Since its inception, more than 200 Minnesota volunteers have contributed 81,000 hours collecting over 2,200,000 pounds of medical supplies and equipment and preparing them for shipment to its counterpart organizations in Bolivia. Nearly all of these life-saving items would have been discarded into Minnesota landfills if Mano a Mano had not collected them.

In 1995, Mano a Mano had the good fortune to be approved by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Denton Program for no-cost, space-available transportation of its cargo via military transport during routine Reservist training missions. The Denton Program and related USAID humanitarian transport programs have shipped the vast majority of Mano a Mano’s cargo free of charge.

Last year Mano a Mano - Bolivia filled 489 requests for medical supplies and equipment from non-profit health care programs, including Mano a Mano clinics, and 989 from individuals who could not afford to purchase them.