Group that donates medical supplies to needy countries sets up shop in St. Paul

Joe Kimball, Star Tribune

January 12, 2004

The 92-year-old brick warehouse on the east edge of downtown St. Paul is empty now, but soon it will be full of people filling packages with bandages, latex gloves, stethoscopes, orthopedic supplies and other medical equipment for needy hospitals around the world.

There is even room for a spare MRI machine or old hospital beds, if someone wants to contribute.

The warehouse at 178 E. 9th St. -- an old print shop with boarded-up windows -- will be the newest depot for Project C.U.R.E., a Denver-based nonprofit that collects excess medical supplies in the United States and ships them to hospitals and clinics in 92 countries.

The organization has warehouses in five other U.S. cities and last year shipped 110 ocean-going cargo containers overseas. Each one contained medical material worth up to $500,000.

A whole warehouse to fillDuane BraleyStar TribuneSen. Norm Coleman will join officials from Project C.U.R.E. to officially open the St. Paul warehouse Tuesday, and immediate donations from area hospitals and medical companies are anticipated.

"Minnesota, with its medical alley in the Twin Cities and the Mayo Clinic, is one of the top five places we need to be," said Doug Jackson, President of Project C.U.R.E. "Minneapolis and St. Paul have so many great manufacturing facilities that may be able to donate operating supplies and equipment and all kinds of needed materials. There could be trailer loads."

Jackson said those companies often have extra or outdated equipment that is still useful and desperately needed in poor countries.

He said a trailer-load of scrubs once showed up at a warehouse.

"A wholesaler had ordered a bunch of purple scrubs and put the hospital's name across the chest. But the hospital director said he wanted dark purple, not light purple, and wouldn't take the order," he said. "They sent them to us, and now the Mother Theresa Hospital in Tirana, Albania, all the nurses wear light purple scrubs that say 'Lutheran Hospital' across the front."

Companies that donate medical equipment get generous tax treatment, Jackson said.

Project C.U.R.E. was founded in 1987 by Doug Jackson's father, Jim Jackson, a Denver businessman. On a visit to Brazil, he saw long lines of people waiting to be seen at a medical clinic, then learned that many were turned away because of lack of supplies. He vowed to help and collected donated material in his garage. Within a month he was able to send $250,000 worth of supplies to the clinic.

Doug Jackson, an attorney and finance professor, joined the operation six years ago, planning to spend a few months organizing the agency's finances. He's still there.

One of the Jacksons or members of their staff visit hospitals and clinics around the world before agreeing to send supplies. The assessment ensures that the supplies are truly needed and will be used properly.

"I watched a man die in a hospital bed in Ecuador because they didn't have an IV starter kit in the whole hospital, and he was dehydrated," Doug Jackson said. "Then they showed me a closet full of broken medical equipment and said they couldn't afford to hire a technician to fix it. I realized that if we sent more equipment, in six months it would all be in the closet, too.

"So we decided to send other supplies: sutures, IV sets ,otoscopes and other material for their ER and OR and ICU. We told them to take the money they'd usually spend on those supplies to hire a bio-medical tech to fix the stuff they had."

Doug Jackson said that individuals, too, often contribute supplies or money to pay for the shipments.

"We watch the news and see floods in Mozambique or dying babies in Malawi or an earthquake in Iran and wonder what we can do to help," he said. "Financial support from the public can make a difference. We can send a container with a half-million dollars worth of donated stuff to West Africa for $8,000 to $10,000 in shipping costs, and that can save lives and change worlds."

The St. Paul warehouse space was donated by Frauenshuh Companies, and Lawson Software helped organize the St. Paul venture. Winston Hewett, the company's community relations director, accompanied Project C.U.R.E. officials on an assessment trip to Africa in December.

"The need for basic supplies is amazing; deplorable is what it is," she said. "There were a couple hospitals that are state of the art, but at others there were no latex gloves for the staff and two or three people were sleeping in the same bed."

Many of the volunteer duties will be coordinated by members of Leadership St. Paul, a team of people from the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce who adopt a community service project as part of their leadership training course. A member of the group, Richard Brunkow, business development manager for accounting firm Olsen Thielen Technologies, is the volunteer director of the warehouse.