Direct Relief: From California to Louisiana: Mission Response: To Flood Victims in Louisiana

Once again, as Direct Relief so often does with catastrophies,( www.directrelief.com), they came to the rescue this week with supplies for flood victims in Louisiana. Volunteers gathered from the community at Direct Relief Headquarters in Goleta, CA. to help pack the needed supplies for shipment. As a participant, it was heartwarming to see so many volunteers and to know the funds and supplies donated go to much needed uses. Thank you Direct Relief! Your Global reach is surely noted and appreciated.

Here are the details of this particular outreach: (thank you to Tony Morain, Communications Director of Direct Relief, for the following information):

• In coordination with the Louisiana Primary Care Association, the National Association of Community Health Centers, and the Mobile Health Clinic Association., Direct Relief has delivered 37 shipments, valued at over $1M wholesale to five local health facilities in flood-affected parts of the state.
• Summary of items shipped: Prescription and over the counter drugs, tetanus vaccines, diabetic supplies and insulin, hurricane prep packs, and medical outreach backpacks.
• Approximately fifty volunteers came to Direct Relief headquarters Tuesday Aug. 23, to build Emergency Family Hygiene Kits for displaced families. One thousand of these kits will be delivered this week to Louisiana.
• Three partners have depleted the contents of their Hurricane Prep Packs and have requested additional supplies. The Hurricane Prep Pack is designed to meet the needs of 100 patients for approximately 3 to 5 days. It includes wound care supplies, chronic medications, antibiotics, diabetic supplies and more. This is the first time in the history of this program that the Hurricane Prep Packs have been opened during an emergency, and they served their purpose, just as intended.
• Products sent were donated by the following manufacturers: 3M, Abbott, AbbVie, Actavis Pharma, Alcon Laboratories, Allergan, Apotex, AstraZeneca, Baxter International, BD, Boehringer Ingelheim Cares Foundation, Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals, CVS, Eli Lilly, GSK, GSMS, Integra LifeSciences, Janssen, Johnson & Johnson Consumer, LifeScan, Magno-Humphries Labs, Medtronic, Merck, Nephron Pharmaceuticals, Neutrogena, Omron Healthcare, Pfizer, Purdue Pharma, Sanofi, Sappo Hill Soapworks, Second Harvest, TEVA, and Unilever.