Initiative Description
Our Reuse / Refurbish initiative, Project CARAT, partnered with great success with the international volunteer organization, JustServe. JustServe greatly extended our ability to accept DME donations by assembling teams to pick up the medical equipment from donors. They also offered assistance in transporting equipment from our refurbish centers to consumers in need. With JustServe's assistance we were able to capitalize on larger donations (i.e. wheelchair lift trailers, powerchairs, etc.) that we would otherwise have to pass on. Additionally, in a time of COVID concerns, JustServe was able to assemble same-household teams of volunteers that allowed for a curb to curb transport of items without any risk of exposure to COVID. Project CARAT also partnered with international health organization, SOS. SOS improves global health and the environment through recovery and redistribution of surplus medical supplies. Their mission overlaps with our mission, but on an international level. By partnering with SOS we were able to receive several pallet loads of their surplus to share with our partners across the Commonwealth.
Lessons Learned/Replication
The partnership with JustServe was a zero cost initiative that helped us both attend to our individual missions. For Project CARAT, it allowed for the capture and distribution of more DME. For JustServe, it allowed for the achievement of their mission of service. With our very small staff and mandated Covid restrictions, we would have lost out on many donations. Instead we saw a year over year increase of $118,499.43 additional savings for Kentucky DME consumers as compared to last year. The partnership with SOS was another zero cost partnership, this allowed us to serve more consumers by increasing the flow of used DME through our program. This mutually mission addressing partnership will continue going forward. For the reporting period SOS is estimating that that they donated 6,125 lbs. of equipment to Project CARAT, totaling approximately $98,000 in value.