St. Louis HELP Collects More Than Ten Tons of Home Health Equipment in One Day

OCTOBER 15, 2014, St. Louis, Missouri… St. Louis HELP, the not-for-profit Health Equipment Lending Program that freely loans home medical equipment to any person or family, collected more than ten tons of previously used home medical equipment during its Medical Equipment Donation Drive on Saturday, October 11.

Wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, canes, shower chairs, hospital beds and lift chairs are among the nearly 1,000 items that St. Louis HELP volunteers collected during the donation drive. St. Louis HELP volunteers were present at 12 designated local Walgreen’s parking lots to collect the home health equipment donated by people from across the metro area.

“We are beside ourselves with thanks and appreciation for all who participated,” says St. Louis HELP Executive Director Laura Cannon-Singer, who founded the organization in 2008. (Website http://stlhelp.org/).

“Thanks to this successful equipment drive, we will divert more than ten tons of used medical equipment from going into landfills by cleaning and recycling every item and loaning it to people who need it for as long as they need it,” she says “There is a huge need in our community for the home medical equipment we provide on loan for free.”

A total of 245 people donated 943 different items during the drive, says Singer, noting that all items were transferred to St. Louis HELP’s warehouse location in suburban Olivette for cleaning and refurbishing before being available for loan. Any person that wants to borrow home health equipment for free can call St. Louis HELP at (314) 567-4700 for arrangements.

The group’s good work has not gone unnoticed. 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.

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.

Call (314) 567-4700 or see the website http://stlhelp.org/ for information.

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