Thanks to all those who helped us raise over $22,300 for Cuba hurricane relief, which was doubled by MEDICC

In the end, we sent in over $22,300, which a matching grant to MEDICC doubled.

Stan Smith, Chicago ALBA Solidarity

From Erik Schnabel, Senior Development Manager:

MEDICC Donors Raises Over $40,000 for Cuba Hurricane Recovery

November 3, 2017 Pittsburgh, PA—MEDICC presented Global Links with a first installment of donations for hurricane recovery in Cuba today. “MEDICC thanks our donors for their generosity,” said Dr. C. William Keck, MEDICC Executive Director. In particular, MEDICC wants to thank Chicago ALBA Solidarity, Marxism-Leninism Today, and the Wisconsin Coalition to Normalize Relations with Cuba for organizing events and collecting funds among its members in Chicago and Milwaukee.

“We are particularly pleased to continue our partnership with Global Links by providing this check for $40,000 to help with the purchase and delivery of needed supplies and equipment to health care facilities,” he said in a brief ceremony at Global Links headquarters in the city. “We think our donors represent the vast majority of Americans who favor more rational, humane relations with Cuba—echoing the vote by 191 nations yesterday at the United Nations, calling on the US to end its Cuba embargo.”

Kathleen Hower, Global Links Executive Director, received the MEDICC donation. “We are proud to partner again with MEDICC to support Cuba’s public health system, and aid in recovery efforts in the devastating wake of Hurricane Irma,” she said. “We also urge the US Congress to aid Cuba’s recovery efforts and answer ‘yes’ to the family of nations who support the lifting of the US-imposed embargo. When we work together in a spirit of friendship, respect and inclusiveness, we create a larger impact on the lives and health of our human family and in the world we live in.  We applaud the resiliency, efficiency and spirit of Cubans as they rebuild and recover from this terrible storm.”

Ms. Hower explained that the money raised by MEDICC’s supporters will be used to purchase equipment and medical supplies to augment the materials that are currently being designated for the next seven container shipments to Cuban hospitals. One shipment has already been sent to eastern Cuba. The remaining ones are destined for five hospitals in the regions of the country hardest hit by September’s Hurricane Irma: the provinces of Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey and Guantánamo. Assistance from PAHO, the Pan American Health Organization and identification of needs by Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health complete this “circle of cooperation,” she noted.

About Global Links
Global Links is a medical relief and development organization dedicated to supporting health improvement initiatives in resource-poor communities, primarily in the Western Hemisphere. Global Links collaborates with U.S. healthcare institutions and the community to recover hundreds of tons of high-quality surplus medical materials every year that would otherwise be sent to landfills.  Global Links has been working with the Cuban Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organization to support public health in Cuba since 1994. Global Links is the largest provider of medical aid to Cuba from the U.S.

About MEDICC
Founded in 1997, MEDICC is a US non-profit organization working to promote US-Cuba health collaboration and highlight Cuban public health contributions to global health equity and universal health. MEDICC facilitates mutual learning opportunities in several ways: its documentary film ¡Salud!; the open-access, MEDLINE-indexed English journal, MEDICC Review; insightful trips to Cuba for US health policymakers, educators and practitioners; a national network of US communities whose leaders have been inspired to innovate for better health, thanks to their MEDICC-organized experiences in Cuba; and by serving as an institutional bridge-builder between US, Cuban and global health institutions and organizations. MEDICC also assists US graduates of Havana’s Latin American Medical School to return home to practice in provider-shortage areas, and supports US policies that facilitate greater health cooperation with Cuba for the benefit of people in both countries.