DONATE USED CRUTCHES TO HELP "TINY TIM" AND OTHERS DURING THE HOLIDAYS

DECEMBER 10, 2014, St. Louis, Missouri…You can help afflicted children and adults this holiday season by donating used crutches and other home medical equipment to St. Louis HELP, the not-for-profit Health Equipment Lending Program that freely loans home medical equipment through its recycle and reuse program (http://stlhelp.org/).

“We need used crutches to build inventory of the home medical equipment we lend for free,” says Executive Director Laura Cannon Singer, whose favorite holiday character is Tiny Tim, the sick, little boy of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol who wished “God bless us, everyone!”

“Our warehouse is almost empty. We are desperate for used crutches and other used home health equipment to accommodate hundreds of people calling us for assistance through St. Louis HELP’s free lending program,” Singer says.

“We provide free use of virtually all types of home medical equipment to people for as long as necessary and we assist thousands of people annually. All donations of equipment are tax deductible, as are any financial contributions. Our warehouse in Olivette will be open Christmas Eve and New Years’ Eve from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. To pick up a needed item during those hours, call 314.567.4700 for an appointment.

“Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance don’t always cover the cost of renting or buying certain types of home medical equipment that people desperately need,” Singer says. “We provide this equipment at no charge – making the difference between living independently or living a life of dependence and immobility.”

St. Louis HELP is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that loans equipment to any person who needs it including those temporarily disabled by injury, illness or surgery; those awaiting insurance company approval; those whose own equipment is being repaired; visitors to St. Louis who can’t transport their own home health equipment; and terminally ill persons.

To donate used crutches or almost any type of Home Medical Equipment in good condition, or to borrow equipment for yourself or a loved one, call 314.567.4700 or visit the website http://www.stlhelp.org.

Primarily a volunteer organization, St. Louis HELP accepts donations of nearly every type of home medical equipment in good working condition except oxygen and medications. St. Louis HELP cleans and revitalizes all donated equipment and loans it at no cost for as long as people need it.

Items in high demand are shower chairs, tub transfer benches and manual wheelchairs. Examples of home medical equipment available for free loan from HELP include:

• Wheelchairs – manual and electric
• Scooters
• Scooters
• Walkers, Crutches and Canes
• Shower Chairs, Shower Stools, and Tub-Transfer Benches
• Portable Commodes
• Elevated Toilet Seats
• Shower, Tub and Wall Grab Bars
• Hospital Beds
• Lift Chairs
• Stair Lifts
• Reachers and Grabbers

In 2013 St. Louis HELP loaned 4,330 medical items valued at a total of $1,267,470 and an additional 13.5 tons of equipment and supplies was shared with partner charities valued at $892,713. St. Louis HELP is able to do all this by leveraging devoted volunteers and partners to meet the needs of any person dealing with health issues.

In August 2014, St. Louis HELP received a prestigious “Point of Light Award” from Points of Light, the volunteer management organization founded in 1990 in response to President George Bush’s call for volunteer community service. “We feel very grateful and especially honored to receive this prestigious award,” says Singer.

For more information, contact Laura Cannon Singer at 314.567.4700. Media relations contact Jeff Dunlap 314.409.5203.

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