Q & A with Project C.U.R.E.
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Health care is complicated, but when it comes to developing areas, saving a life can come down to a basic need for the right supplies. Doctors and nurses in these areas are doing everything they can to help patients with their limited resources but often times find themselves without the tools they need to treat disease, deliver vaccines, perform surgeries and ensure safe childbirth. Project C.U.R.E. is working to change that by collecting donated medical supplies and distributing them to communities in need. Recently, a group of Altruist Denver volunteers got to see first-hand all the good this organization is doing. Read on to learn more about how they are saving lives with supplies that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill.
Q: Are there any particular areas that you are focused on right now? Where are you seeing the greatest need for medical supplies?
At Project C.U.R.E., we work both in catastrophic and developmental situations. So we are very focused on addressing the long-term consequences of disasters like the Ebola virus in West Africa, and the recent earthquakes in Nepal. While we are doing that, we are also working hard on healthcare infrastructure development. We continue to improve the chances for mothers to survive childbirth, children to recover from injury and dads to deal with disease and illness all over the world. While the individual needs are different between the complicated scenarios, the overall need is increasing.
Q: Do you have a favorite story of someone your organization has helped?
We have been doing a lot of training of nurses and midwives through our Helping Babies Breathe programs. On several occasions, we have been able to save the lives of babies and mothers literally within hours of completing the HBB training. Recently, Dr. Jackson was visiting a hospital in Ghana, West Africa. Two of the nurses who had finished their HBB training earlier in the afternoon went on-shift at 6:00 PM. Late that night, a young mother came in with a complicated delivery. The baby was delivered, but was not breathing and the mother was in crisis. Prior to the training, that baby would have been presumed to have been still-born, but using the training that Project C.U.R.E. provided, the nurses resuscitated the infant and were also able to save the mother. Dr. Jackson met them both — seated in a donated Project C.U.R.E. wheelchair — the next afternoon. Mom and baby were both healthy.
Q: What is a fun or unexpected fact about your CEO, Dr. Douglas Jackson?
Dr. Jackson is a “car nut.” In our warehouse is an old 1953 Dodge pick-up truck. The truck was purchased new in Idaho by Doug’s grandfather, Keller Johnson and his mom learned to drive the truck when she was 12 so she could help with “haying” on the family ranch. Doug has already re-built the carburetor and will be working to get the truck restored. He plans to drive it — with Project C.U.R.E. signs on the doors — on sunny days and in the rodeo parades around Colorado.
Learn more about how the Altruist community is changing the way we give $1 at a time at joinAltruist.com
