The first steps into our distribution center warehouse can feel a little like walking into a beehive. At every table, someone in a red Medical Teams shirt sorts items quickly and efficiently. A fan whirs overhead. The beep of forklifts punctuates the air. Giant pallets of boxes line every wall and cover most surfaces. Our distribution center is the home base for all the donated medical supplies we ship. Everything from syringes to surgical gowns comes through on their way to clinic shelves around the world.

The hum of busy workers shouldn’t distract from the warehouse’s incredible role. The distribution center is an amazing and unique part of Medical Teams. Few organizations have the space, or the volunteer power, to accept surplus medical supplies like we can. And the need is great. In places with little health care infrastructure, or where supplies are limited, a clean pair of gloves can mean the difference between life and death. Often, providers lack the supplies they need to care for patients effectively. That’s where the power of donated supplies comes in!

In 2023, we shipped more than $18 million in donated supplies to 27 countries, helping nearly 62,000 people. In the U.S. alone, we served 65 local agencies with supplies.

Today, we’re following the journey of donated medical supplies through the warehouse on their way to the world! You’ll soon see why just $1 sends $54 of supplies — with the help of a dedicated volunteer team and donated medical supplies, miracles are possible.

Step 1: Supply treasure trove

What looks at first like a haphazard, towering stack of recycling slowly comes into focus as what it truly is…a treasure trove of medical supplies! Our first stop is at the receiving dock, where supplies come into the warehouse. With the help of a dedicated volunteers, these boxes will slowly be unpacked and sorted on their way to clinics around the world.

Each year, medical supply companies in the U.S. discard millions of pounds of supplies. At its most basic, when a company finishes a run of items and can’t sell them all to hospitals or clinics here, those supplies go to waste. Health systems also have surplus supplies. That’s where organizations like Medical Teams come in. Rather than letting them go to the landfill, supply companies donate the overstock to us. Then, we distribute or recycle the supplies to clinics in countries without the benefit of supplies.

Incredibly, it’s just a small team of volunteers who sort through these boxes of donated medical supplies. They check the expiration dates, function, and usability of each product and sort them accordingly. Their dedication and expertise are what powers every step of the journey these donated supplies will go on through the distribution center.

Interested in joining this tightknit team? You can start volunteering in the warehouse today!

Step 2: Reduce, reuse, recycle

Sometimes, supply companies or health systems offload supplies that aren’t usable or practical for clinics outside of the U.S. Supplies might be opened — making them no longer sterile — or too close to the expiration date to ship. When that situation arises, we make a real effort to recycle supplies we can’t use. From each shipment, we track how much waste comes from every load of donated supplies.

We work the most innovative recycling companies in the region to help offset the environmental impact of unused medical supplies. Each year, Medical Teams is responsible for recycling thousands of pounds of unused medical supplies. As a result, those supplies stay out of the landfill!

One other amazing part of the distribution center? The row of medical equipment — from walkers to wheelchairs — that goes to people with mobility concerns both globally and here at home. It’s hard to miss the gleaming black handles of wheelchairs and the knobby handles of canes. Some are surplus from big companies, but many come from individual donors who donate the equipment they no longer need post-recovery or after a loved one has passed on. The polished wood of one cane’s handle, from years of a palm touching it, makes clear that each piece is going from one hand to another’s.

In many countries around the world, mobility aids or medical equipment like this aren’t manufactured at all. Accordingly, things that seem commonplace in the U.S. are prohibitively expensive or difficult to get elsewhere. But even here at home, people struggle to get the equipment they need. Insurance often doesn’t cover more than one piece of medical equipment — a person might need a wheelchair and a shower bench, for example — or there are long wait times for government assistance. That’s why we hold back a portion of all equipment for local agencies.

Step 3: Sort, pack, repeat

On the other side of the warehouse, beneath a row of waving flags from countries across the globe, more volunteers work busily to sort and pack the medical supplies from Step 1. At long tables, they take the bulk supplies and begin to organize supplies based on function. Then they pass through the sorted supplies through a series of cubbies to the others bank of tables, where volunteers pack boxes.

Many of our volunteers are or were medical providers themselves. They lend their time and expertise to Medical Teams, quickly and efficiently sorting the kinds of supplies that seem baffling to a layperson — like the subtle differences in syringes — and helping advise on what each specialty needs. Our volunteers form a kind of family over the many hours they spend sorting supplies together. We have a few volunteers who have served with us for more than 30 years!

Each packed box of supplies is loaded onto a pallet marked for specific specialties. For example, an orthopedic pallet will have a different set of supplies than a maternal health clinic. Naturally, there’s overlap. But an orthopedic clinic might be dismayed to find clamps used in C-sections in their pallet, so it’s important to be specific.

Step 4: Passports for pallets

Now, the real logistics begin! Sending these supply pallets is no easy feat. Between custom regulations and matching pallets to the real needs of clinics, getting supply pallets out is a daunting task. Luckily, the distribution center has a finely tuned system in place.

First, a clinic sends a list of what they need to the distribution center. We try to match as closely as we can what we have from the available supplies. Then, our distribution center manager scans each pallet and sends a list of the contents to a clinic waiting for supplies. They can either confirm that they do need the supplies listed, or reject the pallet. By sending the supply list prior to shipping, we avoid wasting the pallet — either by having it denied at customs or not being used by the clinic.

The system in the distribution center makes it possible to track what supplies go where, from start to finish. For example, if a volunteer group came in for a kitting party, they would eventually find out which country and clinic the supplies they packed went to! It’s an incredible feeling to know the impact so personally of packing medical supplies.

Once supplies are accepted by the clinic, it’s time for the pallets to head out the warehouse door! The Ministry of Health in each country inspects every pallet of donated medical supplies.

Finally, once pallets make it past customs, they head to clinic shelves. That’s when the celebration happens at the distribution center! All the effort that goes into receiving, sorting, repairing, recycling, organizing, and packing supplies is worth it when a provider halfway around the world pulls on a fresh surgical gown or new pair of gloves.

The power of donated medical supplies

Hopefully, it’s clear by now that an extraordinary amount of effort and time goes into making the distribution center work. We’re blessed by the companies and individuals who share supplies, the volunteers who so generously give their time, and by donors like you who pay the shipping costs for these supplies!

Your $1 donation today sends $54 to clinics around the world! Give now to send life-saving medical supplies to our neighbors in need.

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Lauren Hobson
Copywriter & Editor