St. Louis HELP Collects Over 15 Tons of Home Health Equipment in One Day

St. Louis HELP, the not-for-profit Health Equipment Lending Program that loans home medical equipment to any person or family for free, collected 1,313 medical equipment items totaling 15.1 tons during its Medical Equipment Donation Drive on Saturday, May 14.

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"We had an amazing turnout of equipment donors at 14 locations in metro St. Louis - we could not be more pleased with the results," said Laura Cannon-Singer, executive director of St. Louis HELP, a not-for-profit organization.

"We are especially thankful and very grateful for support from St. Louis County that enabled this event, which was funded by a grant from the Saint Louis County Department of Public Health utilizing County landfill surcharge funds."

Wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, canes, shower chairs, hospital beds and lift chairs are among the items that St. Louis HELP volunteers collected during the donation drive. St. Louis HELP volunteers were present at 14 designated local Walgreen's parking lots in metro St. Louis to collect the home health equipment donated by people from across the region.

"Thanks to this successful event, we will divert more than 15 tons of used medical equipment from landfills by cleaning and recycling the donated equipment and loaning it to people who need it for as long as they need it," she said. "There is a huge need in our community for the home medical equipment that we loan for free."

A total of 299 people donated 1,313 different items during the drive, said Singer, noting that all items were transferred to St. Louis HELP's warehouse location in suburban Olivette for cleaning and refurbishing before being available for loan. Any person that wants to borrow home health equipment for free can call St. Louis HELP at (314) 567-4700 for arrangements.

In 2015 St. Louis HELP diverted about 150 tons of equipment from solid waste landfills by reconditioning and loaning 5,570 home health equipment items. Broken equipment parts are used for repairs. St. Louis HELP conducts two home health equipment drives annually, and also accepts equipment throughout the year. All equipment donations to St. Louis HELP are tax deductible. Since its origin in 2008 St. Louis HELP has loaned more than 50,000 home health items   for free   to people in metro St. Louis and southwestern Illinois. St. Louis HELP freely loans equipment to people disabled by injury, illness or surgery; those awaiting insurance company approval; those whose own equipment is being repaired; visitors to St. Louis who can't transport their own equipment; and terminally ill persons. Please call (314) 567-4700 for information.

Attribution/Source(s): This quality-reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by St. Louis Health Equipment Lending Program and published on 2016/05/22, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.