PROJECT C.U.R.E. AND COLORADO JEWISH COALITION TEAM UP WITH MAYOR OF JERUSALEM TO DELIVER MEDICAL EQUIPMENT TO ISRAEL
November 1, 2004
Denver, CO – This past August, Dr. Doug Jackson, President/CEO of PROJECT C.U.R.E., visited Israel to meet with the Mayor of Jerusalem about sending donated medical equipment to a country that has been known historically for violence and conflict. On Thursday, October 28th, students from several Denver high loaded the second of three containers full of medical supplies and equipment to be sent by PROJECT C.U.R.E. to Yad Sarah, an Israel-wide network of volunteers aiding sick, disabled, elderly, isolated and housebound people with homecare health services.
The story of Yad Sarah begins in the 1970s, when a young Jerusalem high school teacher with a growing family needed to borrow a vaporizer from a neighbor for a sick child. Discovering that such appliances were hard to find, he bought a few to lend to others, and people started dropping off items they no longer needed. His small apartment was soon overflowing with a variety medical equipment needed for only a short time: crutches, walkers, vaporizers and wheelchairs.
The teacher, Uri Lupolianski, saw the need for this kind of service. Around that time, his father, the late Jacob Lupolianski, retired and sold his small shop. He offered to use the money to help. And so, in 1976, the Yad Sarah Organization was incorporated as a non-profit. It was named for Jacob's mother, Sarah, who had perished in the Holocaust. The word "yad," which literally means "hand," is also used to mean a remembrance or a memorial.
Space was offered near a local hospital, a stock of equipment was purchased, and Yad Sarah became a reality. There was no shortage of volunteers to take turns handling the requests, and the idea spread rapidly. Branches of Yad Sarah opened in other locations around Israel, always operated by volunteers, and before long it was difficult to find an Israeli who didn't know about the kind of help that was available from this organization.
Uri Lupolianski was elected as the Mayor of Jerusalem in April 2003. Today, only 28 years after it was founded, Yad Sarah has 102 branches throughout Israel run by more than 6,000 volunteers, and saves the Israeli economy about $320 million a year in hospitalization and medical costs. More than 380,000 Israelis use Yad Sarah each year—that is one out of two Israeli families.
"The story of Yad Sarah mirrors almost exactly how PROJECT C.U.R.E. was started by my father, Dr. James Jackson," said Doug Jackson. "What began from seeing the need of a small medical clinic in Brazil, has now become the world’s largest of distributor of donated medical supplies and equipment in more than 100 countries worldwide. What started in my father’s garage in 1987, has now grown into an international organization that sent more than $30 million (wholesale) in medical relief last year, packed into 77 forty-foot containers. A small group of about 25 dedicated volunteers has mushroomed into an army of more than 10,000 people nationwide."
Each week, PROJECT C.U.R.E. collects thousands of pounds of medical supplies and equipment in large trucks from domestic medical manufacturers, distributors, hospitals and clinics. Then, volunteers sort, inventory and load the goods into huge semi-truck sized ocean-going cargo containers for delivery overseas. The recipients of the donated medical supplies include hospitals, clinics and orphanages in developing countries from Central Asia to South America, from Africa to the Far East, and from Eastern Europe to the Caribbean. This year, PROJECT C.U.R.E. will deliver 125 semi-truck sized containers of medical relief to those who need it most.
Yad Sarah's mission is to keep the ill and the elderly in their homes and out of institutions as long as possible. Its best-known service is the lending of medical and rehabilitative equipment on a short-term basis free of charge to anyone who needs it - from crutches and wheelchairs to oxygen concentrators and electronic monitors. The organization also provides equipment and services for new mothers, infants, recently discharged hospital patients and others in need.
"We feel that Yad Sarah will be a great partner in helping to meet the medical needs of the ill and elderly in Israel," said Jackson. "During our visit with Mayor Lupolianski, we performed an in-depth Needs Assessment study of Yad Sarah so that PROJECT C.U.R.E. will directly deliver the supplies and equipment that they need."
Locally, PROJECT C.U.R.E. is partnering with the Colorado Jewish Coalition to collect medical supplies specifically for the Yad Sarah shipments including: wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, canes, and other home care and rehabilitation items. If you have supplies or equipment to donate, drop off locations include: Project C.U.R.E.’s Denver Sorting Center, 7075 S. Alton Way, Centennial, CO 80112 (Call: 720-323-5448); or Project C.U.R.E.’s Brighton Warehouse, 221 Kuner Road #4, Brighton, CO 80601 (Call: 720-341-3152).
PROJECT C.U.R.E. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, humanitarian relief organization that collects medical surplus and donates it to developing countries. Since 1987, PROJECT C.U.R.E. has delivered donated medical supplies and equipment to the most desperately ill and needy people living in more than 100 countries around the world.
PROJECT C.U.R.E.’S International Headquarters is located in Centennial, Colorado. The main warehouse is located in Brighton, Colorado. PROJECT C.U.R.E. Collection Centers are located in Denver, CO; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Nashville, TN; Phoenix, AZ and Saint Paul, MN.
