November 5, 2020
Friends,
Greetings from our new warehouse space located in the cozy SubTropolis at Hunt Midwest, in Kansas City, Mo!
We're coming to you with many updates (see below) and a special plea to help us reach our goal for a shipment of medical relief beds to three health care facilities in Cameroon. This shipment is being done in partnership with the Sisters of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, and Sister Clarisse Remjika Jaiwo, SST.
Cameroon is a country in West Africa with a diverse population comprising approximately 250 ethnic groups from five regions and has numerous and serious health care needs. Serious health concerns in this region include malaria, HIV/AIDS, hypertension, heart disease, lack of access to pediatric care and prenatal and delivery care. Maternal mortality in Cameroon is the 10th highest in the world, with 596 deaths per 100,000 women giving birth. The three health centers this shipment would support are actively addressing these health care needs.
Sister Clarrise has lived in Cameroon her entire life and is deeply involved with these three facilities. Driven by her faith in God, and her desires to alleviate suffering caused by poverty and illness, she is dedicated her life to helping the people of Cameroon. Please help us meet our goal.
Wishing you peace and health,
-Your Kansas City Project C.U.R.E. | Franciscan Mission Warehouse Team
Sister Andrea Kantner, Paul Wilson, Kim Day, and Kristin Robinson
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The buildout of our new warehouse space is complete! We are excited to have a welcoming reception area, spacious conference room, two offices, and break room in addition to the 50,000 square feet of warehouse space to hold the thousands of pallets of medical supplies and equipment.
Soon we will be welcoming back regular volunteers and volunteer groups to help us with the next steps of becoming a fully operational Project C.U.R.E. Distribution Center.
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International Relief Bed Project |
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Project C.U.R.E. has partnered with Stryker, a hospital bed manufacturer, and taken in thousands of surplus medical relief beds across its Distribution Centers nationwide.
As the coronavirus continues to burden under-equipped hospitals throughout the developing world, these beds are in high demand. They provide much needed capacity to already tapped healthcare facilities, and provide the sick with comfort and dignity during a trying time.
At the Kansas City warehouse, we've received 7,000 beds and shipped out nearly 1,650 to Congo, Indonesia, Honduras, Cambodia, Liberia, Mali, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Haiti, Guatemala, and Iraq.
Upcoming shipments include Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt, and Kyrgyzstan.
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Help Us Send A Shipment of Beds to Cameroon |
We need to raise $6,800 to reach our goal of $21,500.
We are working to raise funds to send a shipment of much need emergency relief beds to three health care facilities run by the Sisters of St. Therese in Cameroon.
Healthcare in Cameroon is poor, life expectancy is only 57 years, infant malnutrition can be as high as 20% and pediatric mortality under five years of age is at 13%.
The people of Cameroon need our help and deserve the level of dignity these beds would provide.
HELP US REACH OUR GOAL!!
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A group of dedicated volunteers have been our saving grace as we've transitioned to our new warehouse space.
A very big THANK YOU to Harold Arens, Frank Gloriosa, Gary Hatfield, Mike Johns, and Ken Waterland.
These men have continued to show up week after week, for many years—some even back when Sister Andrea was running the warehouse on her own! In the early days of their volunteering, there was no rhyme or reason to how the inventory was organized, and keeping up with the demand of shipments and donations was overwhelming—but, they continued to come back!
These men help us with pickups around town (sometimes even a few hours away), load and unload trucks, drive the fork lift to pick items for container loads, and so much more. They say the camaraderie and knowing they are helping those in need bring them back time and time again. Their dedication over these years means so much and we can't thank them enough!
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Thank You Hunt Family Foundation &
Loretto Foundation
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A BIG thank you to Lamar Hunt, Jr., The Hunt Family Foundation, and the Loretto Foundation for all of their support and funding to help us secure our new warehouse space. We would not be where we are today without you!
Also, the Loretto Foundation partnered with RMI Golf Cars and gifted the warehouse with a spiffy new golf cart to help staff and volunteers move around the large space quickly and easily.
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Warehouse Volunteers Needed |
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We are in need of 8-10 warehouse volunteers. These volunteers will help load and unload containers, drive our box truck to make pick-ups from local hospitals, and assist the Manager of Warehouse Operations with daily tasks.
How are we keeping our volunteers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic?
The safety and health of our volunteers and staff are our top priority. We have invested in air filtration systems to help purify the air flowing through our HVAC system. We require masks to be worn by all individuals in the building, sanitize high-touch areas on a regular basis, and practice social distancing.
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