17325 Euclid Ave. | Cleveland, Ohio 44112 216-692-1685 www.medwish.org WHO WE ARE MedWish International is a not-for-profit organization that collects usable medical surplus from U.S. health care systems and distributes it as humanitarian aid in developing countries. Since 1993, this Cleveland-based organization has been dedicated to saving the environment while saving lives. TWO BIG PROBLEMS

In 2008, Not Enough

8.1 million All over the world, people lack basic medical supplies – things we take for granted in the United children died before States. In 2008, 8.1 million children under five died, most from preventable illness. About 40% were their 5th birthday infants younger than four weeks old, and nearly 400,000 thousand mothers died before, during or soon after childbirth.* Most occurred in developing countries and are preventable with improved access to basic health care. To address these and other staggering health disparities in developing Most of these deaths could have countries, MedWish sends what we collect to provide humanitarian aid in developing countries. been prevented with better *Source: Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health www.who.int/pmnch access to health care.

Too Much

In one year, hospitals in the United States produce an estimated 5.9 million tons of medical waste.* That much garbage could fill six lanes of Interstate 95 from Philadelphia to Washington DC and would rise 46’ into the air for all 140 miles. This trash puts a major strain on our environment, and much of it is still safe, sterile and valuable.

*Source: Practice Green Health: http://practicegreenhealth.org/topics/waste

ONE SOLUTION A lot of what we throw away could have a second life saving lives. To keep usable medical supplies and equipment out of our landfills and get it into the hands of people who need it, MedWish collects and sorts surplus, sending it off in the hands of humanitarian aid workers to use during medical missions, or loading it onto cargo containers bound for clinics in the developing world. To date, MedWish has sent supplies to more than 90 developing countries all over the world. HOW WE WORK

HAITI Recover Sort Redistribute MedWish works with Volunteers give more than MedWish partners with other health care facilities all over 2,000 hours of their time each not-for-profit organizations big Northeast Ohio to recover month to sort, quality-check and small to deliver exactly the usable medical surplus that and pack usable supplies & quantity and type of surplus they would otherwise throw equipment. Expired, non- our recipients need — whether INDIA away. In 2011, MedWish sterile and non-medical it is a box of sutures or a 40’ recovered more than half a donations often find a new cargo container, collaboration million pounds of medical purpose with local animal and customization are key surplus. shelters and schools. tenets of our philosophy. WHERE WE HELP

At home, our work: LAOS ”” Keeps usable supplies out of the waste stream and out of local landfills. ”” Acts as an economic driver, employing a dozen people. ”” Engages adults and youth with autism, development disabilities or other special needs to provide vocational training opportunities through our Building Careers Volunteer Program. ”” Repurposes unusable medical supplies through not-for-profit animal shelters, schools and art classes through our Alternative Recycling program. NIGERIA Abroad, our work: ”” Focuses on immediate and capacity-building needs of developing and disaster-stricken countries. We carefully vet the organizations we work with to ensure they are ethical, non-discriminatory and not for profit. Since 1993, MedWish has sent supplies to more than 90 countries. ”” Supports humanitarian aid groups in delivering medical care where and how it is needed most. Working from a wish list submitted by the recipient, we will pack anything from a small box to be PERU hand-carried by an individual, to a 40’ cargo container sent by sea or air to a hospital overseas. AFGHANISTANARGENTINAARMENIABANGLADESHBELIZEBENIN BOLIVIABOSNIA&HERZEGOVINABRAZILBURKINAFASOBURUNDIBHUTAN CAMEROONCAPEVERDECHADCHILECHINACOLOMBIACONGO COSTARICACUBADEMOCRATICREPUBLICoftheCONGO DOMINICANREPUBLICDOMINICAECUADOREGYPTELSALVADOR ETHIOPIAGABONGEORGIAGHANAGRENADAGUYANAHAITI HONDURASINDIAIRAQIVORYCOASTJAMAICAKENYA KYRGYZSTANLAOSLATVIALIBERIAMADAGASCARMALAWI MALIMEXICOMOLDOVAMOROCCOMOZAMBIQUENICARAGUANIGERIA PANAMAPAKISTANPAPUANEWGUINEAPERUPHILIPPINESPOLAND RWANDARUSSIASENEGALSIERRALEONESOUTHAFRICASTLUCIA SWAZILANDSUDANSYRIATANZANIATHAILANDTOGOUGANDA UKRAINEUZBEKISTANVIETNAMZAMBIAZIMBABWE FOUNDING AND HISTORY

MedWish was founded in 1993 by Dr. Lee Ponsky to address the medical needs in developing countries that he witnessed firsthand as a volunteer before enrolling in medical school.

In the summer of 1991, Lee spent time in a medical compound in Ogbomosho, Nigeria, where he served as a surgical assistant. One day, he encountered a very sick patient whose family had brought her, unconscious, to the clinic. The medical team worked feverishly to stabilize her – and they did. The victory was short lived, though, because the woman needed oxygen, and they had no breathing tube to link her breathing tube to the ventilator. The medical team had no choice but to stop their efforts to revive her. She died in Lee’s arms for want of a tube that gets discarded unused every day in the United States. When Lee left Nigeria to return to the U.S., he carried with him that indelible image of a needless death.

In 1993, just before he entered medical school, Lee decided to find a way to address the scarcity of medical supplies in the third world. Having grown up in a household of medical professionals, Lee knew there were plenty of supplies – still safe, still usable – that were thrown away every day in hospitals and clinics. He began collecting donated supplies in his parents’ garage and connecting them with people going on overseas medical In 1991, Lee Ponsky visited Nigeria as a pre-med student. missions. While Lee pursued a career in medicine, friends, family and Watching a woman succumb to a curable illness for want of a breathing tube sparked his desire to begin collecting medical volunteers rallied around this grassroots effort and nurtured its growth. surplus to support humanitarian aid work. From this experience, he founded MedWish in 1993 in his parents’ garage. In 2002, MedWish hired its first part-time executive director and moved to a warehouse on the east side of Cleveland owned by the Cleveland Clinic. Word about MedWish’s invaluable medical resources began to GOING BACK & GIVING BACK spread among individuals and organizations doing good works overseas; Usually, MedWish does not accompany the at the same time, local hospitals and clinics began dramatically increasing supplies we ship to their final destination, and donations of supplies and equipment. The dual mission of reducing the we rely on our partner agencies and recipients environmental impact of local health providers and improving access to to be our eyes and ears on the ground. Once medical care in developing countries was an easy mission to get behind. a year, however, MedWish staff and volunteers Slowly, MedWish gained more financial support and was able to hire more pack their suitcases and spend a week hosting staff to support growing demand for the organization’s services. clinics in a developing country, putting medical surplus to use and working with locals to identify In January 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked the island nation of and fulfill health care infrastructure needs. Haiti, killing hundreds of thousands of people and rendering homeless In August 2012, 40 volunteers with MedWish will another million. Across the world, people looked for ways to help this return to Zaragoza, El Salvador, an impoverished country in crisis. In Cleveland, MedWish became the epicenter of medical community in Central America that we first humanitarian aid efforts; hundreds of donors and volunteers helped ship visited in 2010. While there, we’ll see 1,500 seven 40-foot sea containers filled with lifesaving supplies and equipment. patients. From this great tragedy, the MedWish mission became a highly visible solution to global health issues.

MedWish now employs a dozen people, receives nearly 30,000 hours of volunteer support and ships 274 tons of medical supplies each year. More than 90 countries have received shipments since MedWish was founded. The organization is committed to quality: It ships only what recipients request and only what the World Health Organization deems safe. MedWish is also committed to making the local community a better place, by providing an environment for vocational training and service opportunities for people of all ages and abilities and by providing simple ways for local health systems to reduce their environmental impact.

One Nigerian woman’s untimely death more than 20 years ago sparked a simple but powerful idea: A breathing tube in a landfill does no good for anyone. Together as a global community, we can make sure less goes to waste and more lives are saved.

Dr. Ponsky in Honduras during the 2006 Medical Brigade. Board of Directors OUR PEOPLE & PARTNERS Lee Ponsky, MD President & Founder LEE PONSKY, MD University Hospitals President & Founder Brooks Gerbtiz Vice President, Strategic Plan Lee received his B.A. from University of Rochester and his Doctor of Medicine Chair degree from Case Western Reserve University. He began his training in Urology at Swagelok the Cleveland Clinic and completed his residency and extended his training to do Michael Smith a research fellowship in Urologic Oncology, followed by an additional fellowship Treasurer, Finance Co-Chair U.S. Endoscopy in advanced urologic laparoscopy and endourology. Lee then joined the faculty at University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, as the Scott Hamilton Director of the Center for Urologic Oncology & Minimally Invasive Therapies and the Co-Director of Secretary the Institute for Surgery and Innovation. Hanna Perkins Center

Ashley Wilson Baer Lee has received numerous accolades for this charity work with MedWish, including U.S. Congressional Brigade Co-Chair Recognition, Crains Forty under Forty, as one of Northeast Ohio’s most influential people under the Harbor Freight Tools age of 40, Cleveland Upstander: Portraits of Courage, as well as being the recipient of the Golden Rob Namy Doc Award, from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. Lee also serves as a founding board member of Brigade Co-Chair MedWorks. Lee and his wife Monica and their three children, Ilan, Eric, and Maiya reside in Moreland Weston Hills, Ohio. Laura McKenna Development Chair JOSH KRAVITZ Select Equity Group Executive Director Jane Hamrle Josh has more than 12 years of not-for-profit leadership experience, including Finance Co-Chair six years at Atlanta-based MSRO, MedShare. During this tenure, Josh was Americhem appointed Chief Operating Officer, helped launch The MedSurplus Network Ann Affolter -a national association of MSROs- and led a highly successful rapid- Governance Chair response disaster relief shipment project immediately following the 2010 Community Volunteer Haiti earthquake. Josh holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Society from Sandhya Ballal American University in Washington, DC and a Master of Arts in Rhetoric and Composition from Arizona State University. Lisa Beno, RN University Hospitals Josh grew up in central New Jersey, has lived throughout the United States as well as in London, Adel Bishai, MD England and studied in Havana, Cuba. He now resides in Cleveland Heights, Ohio with his family. Cleveland Clinic

David Heiman KEY SUPPORTERS Financial Supporters Jones Day ”” The Cleveland Clinic Gifts in Kind Supporters ”” Oak Tree Philanthropic Fund Dave Landever ”” Alliant Healthcare Weisman Kennedy ”” Manhattan Institute ”” The Cleveland Clinic ”” MedPlus Connect Jamie Lebovitz ”” Steris Corporation ”” Select Equity Group Foundation Nurenberg Paris ”” University Hospitals ”” Sherwin-Williams Jeff Leimgruber Hillcrest Hospital

Brian Smith FIELDNOTES FROM PERU: Cleveland Clinic SUPPLIES SAVING LIVES Rob Stall JoeLynn Daugherty of Living Waters Medical Missions Cleveland Clinic hand-carried medical supplies, surgical instruments and Peter Voudouris IV equipment deep into the Amazon rainforest where she Tucker Ellis partnered with Peruvian physician Dr. Jose to provide medical care to indigenous people in late spring 2012. The Dave Wingard supplies she brought allowed her team to save a man’s Sherwin Williams life and leg after he was shot during a hunting accident. Phil Winton The supplies also saved the life of the man pictured on AdCom Communications the left, who had nearly succumbed to an unidentified infection that left him too weak to eat or drink.

OUR IMPACT “Every village we went to, we had supplies we needed to Humanitarian aid agencies are our eyes & help people,” JoeLynn said. “I will forever be grateful to ears on the ground. We work closely with them to learn how supplies we send save be able to work with MedWish to be able to save lives and lives overseas. truly make a difference.” In 2011, MedWish: MEDIA RESOURCES COLLECTED more than 554,000 pounds of supplies and equipment Visit www.medwish.org/media-center for videos, recent DISTRIBUTED more than 545,000 pounds of supplies and coverage and press releases. equipment Media Contact: REPURPOSED more than 28,000 pounds of supplies and Reanna Karousis equipment through alternative recycling Marketing and Communications Manager FACILITATED more than 2,000 volunteers who donated (216) 633 - 6827 28,984 hours of their time [email protected]

HOW YOU CAN HELP

There are many ways you can help change the world for the better through MedWish.

Be an Ambassador Give Volunteer

We need people to share our story. You can Help support general operations or sponsor Big volunteer groups “bulk sort” supplies be a voice for MedWish, and thus a voice a shipment to get supplies to a region, as they come in, individuals adopt our “fine for the countless men, women and children country or group that is close to your heart. sort” rooms to separate the ankle braces in the developing world who need our help. The supplies we recover are just a drop in from the shoulder braces. We have volunteer Learn about us on our website and find us on the bucket of what could be reused, and opportunities during business hours Tuesday your favorite social networks. Buy a T-shirt the need for better access to health care through Friday, on certain evenings and a few on our website. Take every opportunity to in developing countries is almost infinite. Saturdays a month. We make it easy for you to tell our story to your friends. There is endless opportunity for us to grow. make a difference. We need your help.

Please visit www.medwish.org/give to learn more.