meet global links

I would love to use this 10:30 a.m. post to introduce you more in depth to the charity I'm fundraising for, Global Links. From their website:

"Global Links is a medical relief and development organization dedicated to promoting environmental stewardship and improving health in resource-poor communities, primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our two-fold mission provides hospitals with a socially and environmentally beneficial alternative to sending hundreds of tons of still-useful surplus materials to landfills.

Hospitals and clinics in under-served communities often lack the supplies and equipment necessary to provide even basic care to their patients, resulting in needless suffering and deaths. At the same time, the US healthcare industry generates a staggering amount of medical surplus which, without intervention, is destined to pile up in our landfills.

Global Links' innovative model of recovery and reuse connects these two social problems in a way that helps to solve both, creating a "virtuous circle" that converts an environmental burden to a life-saving purpose."

Through selfless work of volunteers, Global Links is able to give back to communities desperate for resources that we would otherwise simply throw away.

Amazing, right? Specifically, we're fundraising for one of their projects - BREATHE HOPE - the NEBULIZER COLLECTION.

From their website:

"Imagine that your child suffers from asthma. She is in respiratory distress, wheezing and struggling to breathe. Now imagine that you live in a rural area in Nicaragua, and you must carry your child several miles to a clinic for a breathing treatment. When you arrive, another family is using the clinic’s only nebulizer. You must wait your turn, listening to your child fight for breath.

All across Central and South America, nebulizers are in short supply, but asthma is on the rise. Deteriorating environmental conditions underlie increasing rates of respiratory disease, especially among children. The dust from unpaved roads, smoke from cooking fires, and burning garbage all exacerbate the condition.

In this country, most nebulizers – breathing machines – cannot be returned for reuse. But Global Links collects used nebulizers for donation to our partner hospitals and clinics. Volunteers clean and prepare them for shipment, and pack the supplies necessary for their use."

I am thrilled and honored to be blogging on behalf of such a wonderful, thoughtful organization.