pert. Both are regulars by now. Volunteers most often come in on
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, but larger groups of
university students make special trips to SOS, often to fulfill service
hours or learn about medical supplies first hand. Outside the facility,
supply distributors such as Cardinal Health, Owens & Minor and
Medline all help bring supplies to the facility’s doorstep and have
been doing so since SOS was officially named a non-profit.
“Being named as a non-profit was kind of our re-birth. It allowed
us to develop new goals moving forward,” said Womack. “We’re
one of the greenest corporations in Louisville and hardly anyone
knows it.”
As supplies arrive to the building on Arlington Avenue, they sit
unsorted in rows of cardboard boxes. Each box is weighed before
every single piece is checked for expiration dates and sterility. Once
that test is passed, bins of segregated supplies are filled. From there,
volunteers pick a theme, such as women’s health or infant supplies,
and fill boxes upon boxes and then pallets with the chosen utensils.
From there, basic supplies go to the warehouse where they await
shipment to countries in need. A shipment is already scheduled for
a hospital in The Philippines for later this year.
“We’re improving all the time, and we’re always looking for leaders,” said Mershon. “We’d all be happier if the warehouse was empty.
We’re gatherers and preparers of surplus. Supplies Over Seas doesn’t
want to run a warehouse. Our whole goal is to get these supplies to
people who need us.”
In just over 20 years, SOS has moved from the basement of the
medical building to a large facility of its own. From nothing, more
than 100 countries have benefited. Countless lives of children and
adults have been improved thanks to the work done in an unobtrusive side road in Louisville, Kentucky. In a world where five million
children die each year due to a lack of basic health care, this mean
more than we can imagine.
“The members of GLMS need to be very proud that they helped
create this,” Mershon said. “They knew the statistics. They knew what
was going to waste and so many of them have worked to prevent
it. They stayed with the concept to move it to where it is today. The
GLMS members submitted their talent and time to this mission,
and they are marvelous.”
While people across the globe continue to need assistance, the
positive responses are starting to pile up. More than 1,000 volunteers
visited the SOS facility in 2013, and the number is expected to grow
even more in the coming months. Inside, Karen Womack walked
past a row of hospital beds and began to ruminate on where they
would find a home.
“We have so many good stories to tell.”
18
LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
(Abov