Global Links

We visited Global Links as part of research for our entrepreneurship project at University of Pittsburgh, and received a very warm welcome, detailed introduction and gracious help from staff members such as Angela and Connor! The medical devices that they have loaned us will surely facilitate our research and our endeavor to develop a low-cost medical device targeting the low resource areas. We are planning to contact them in the near future about figuring out the specific needs for our potential customers, distribution channels and such.

More importantly, this visit is a transformational experience for us! Witnessing the volunteers working in the warehouse full of organized surplus medical supplies and talking to Angela and Connor about the organization's operation, needs and social impact, I was deeply touched by Global Links' noble cause and a hug cannot even express my most sincere gratitude towards these guys. We thank them for all their great work and devotion! I wish I could have brought the whole team to get to know Global Links onsite (the other two members had other engagements that day), since we are all enthusiastic and inspired entrepreneurs who wish to develop something useful for the greater good. We are more than happy to write reviews for the nebulizers and oxygen concentrators that they have loaned us to research on as the least we can do to pay back and start helping out.

We will use our social media presence to spread the word for Global Links. I have also signed up for volunteer. Again, thank you very much for everything, Global Links!

Wendy
Team OxyGen

I interned at Global Links in 2012 and had an amazing experience! Global Links motivated me to pursue nonprofit management in Latin America. In the years after my internship, I have remained connected to the mission of Global Links through their strong social media presence. As an Executive Director of a nonprofit serving vulnerable communities in Latin America, I strongly recommend Global Links to grant-making organizations, donors, prospective employees, interns, and volunteers. You will be positively impacted by Global Links in whatever capacity you serve.

We came from Washington&Jefferson College and had an amazing experience at Global LInks on Friday. My students come from foreign countries and this volunteer opportunity shed light into some of the great things local non-profits do in our area. It also gave them a great point of reference to compare how things are done in their own countries. Thanks Global LInks!

I loved volunteering at Global Links this past Saturday! It was an amazing opportunity that I am extremely glad I took up. Not only was it wonderful to contribute and help those who are less fortunate, I was able to meet new people from different school districts with similar interests in medicine meanwhile sorting medical supplies. Although we were standing and sorting supplies for two hours, I barely noticed it was time to leave until someone mentioned it! I would love to volunteer again with Global Links or any other organizations similar to them with the medical supplies. I had an amazing time there and am looking forward to experiences similar to this in the future.

I want to thank Global Links first for the opportunity to finish my school requirements and then for welcoming us back for a few weeks beyond that, it was fun to volunteer for a good cause, and be part of the great atmosphere they have! I will be trying to resume volunteering with them if I am ever in the area again. If that can't happen, then I just want to make sure they know how enjoyable this was for me and how much I appreciate what they do!

The International Society of Wheelchair Professionals (ISWP) Student Group cleaned and assembled wheelchairs at Global Links. It was such a great learning experience, both about Global Links and the needs of the international community. We had a great time and would love to come back soon!

I worked for Global Links right out of college through Student Conservation Association. I am proud to have been part of such an amazing organization - the entire staff and volunteers deeply care about their work and everything clearly supports the overall mission of improving global health. One aspect of Global Links that I appreciate most is their dedication to do no harm. It is not uncommon for global aid organizations to donate items or services that end up hurting more than helping at worst, or are ineffective at best. Global Links is not one of these organizations. Through long-term, strategic partnerships and vigilance and commitment at every level, Global Links provides genuinely needed and wanted items and assistance in a highly effective way.
In addition to Global Links' far-reaching impacts, Global Links also made a huge difference in my life. My experience working at Global Links and the guidance I received from staff played a major role in shaping my career goals and commitment to environmental health. Thank you Global Links!

I am the Director of Christian Hospital, Mungeli. This is a 120 bedded hospital in Rural Chhattisgarh, India.
I came here in 2003 after working in Nashville, TN, USA and work for Global Ministries, the mission branch of the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ, two mainline churches in the States.
The hospital has grown tremendously since we came. I got to know about the Global Links suture program through a medical student who came here about 6 years ago.
Since then, we have been grateful to them for what they have done.
Sutures are the MOST expensive commodity that is used in surgery in our hospital. We do about 2500 surgeries a year and sometimes up to 12 to 15 cases a day is not rare. The sutures that we get through Global Links are very much appreciated and a true saving to the hospital. It is a real story of using something which has been discarded to save lives. This is what we believe Global Links gives us the pleasure of doing.
The hospital is a vibrant place for patients who come from long distances specially for surgery. We people who travel 150 miles and more to get help knowing that they will get the cheapest and best help needed.
Now we have a nursing school, a low cost English Medium school and a Community College which all help to bring about change and educate the people of this region. To know more about what we do our website is: www.chmungeli.org.
We thank Global Links in what they do for us as we take on the challenge of trying to provide low cost modern medical care to our patients.
This is the ideal situation in a world today where we cannot afford the cost of the health care that is provided to us.

I am the Executive Director of a community based, social service organization that focuses on service disparities in underserved communities. Due to increased service demand, we expanded our office space. As is the case for most non-profit organizations, our organizational needs were greater than our resources. I was referred to Global Links by a colleague. Because of the generosity of Global Links, office furniture was donated to our agency. This was a tremendous savings for us. Resultantly we were able to redirect the dollars we would have spent on office furniture to meeting the needs of vulnerable families. In addition to the tangible supplies we obtained, the staff of Global Links were professional, patient and courteous. We are truly appreciative for this type of partnership.

Trisha M. Gadson, MS
Executive Director
Macedonia Family and Community Enrichment Center, Inc.
Pittsburgh, PA

I work for a non profit--Genesis of Pgh. We help pregnant woman in need. Global Links has been most helpful in fulfilling our needs with donations. It was most helpful taking the tour and sitting down with Jennifer and expressing what our needs were and they were explicitly fulfilled during our recent pick up of donations. Everything we received will be put to good use in helping our clients. Global Links is such wonderful company to deal with!! Thank you Global Links!!

Just a quick note about this great organization. It is sobering to realize when small things we take for granted to be there are missing, how they adversely affect people’s lives. Global Links takes surplus medical supplies and gets them to people in need, saving lives. Spending a few hours there every month or so makes a difference! Depending of what you do, it may be the hardest couple of volunteer hours you spend, but will make you feel better about yourself. I’d look into this great organization if you want to help and make a difference!

My company provides volunteer opportunities in the community and I have always enjoyed working at Global Links. It's a great chance to help people with what is considered waste in our world. They have a great team out there and I always feel that what we are doing makes a difference in people's lives. Thanks, Global Links! See you soon!
Trudy Berger

The American Red Cross in Western Pennsylvania is grateful to Global Links for supplying us with Durable Medical Equipment (DME) which enables our disaster response volunteers to quickly and effectively provide for the needs of our disaster clients who have disabilities and other medical concerns. Often, when disaster strikes, Americans with disabilities find themselves evacuated from their homes having left behind the items and equipment they use to facilitate their daily activities and maintain their health. Through our partnership with Global Links we have received wheel chairs, walkers, canes, nebulizers, blood pressure cuffs and other necessary supplies to better serve our clients. Through their generous support of our mission, we have been able to stock DME in 49 Emergency Shelter Trailers throughout the Western Pennslyvania Region. Global Links staff and volunteers have been friendly, professional and generous in spirit. It has been a pleasure working together and we look forward to a long and productive partnership in the future!

As a healthcare professional with over 40 years experience in the operating room, I know the importance of having the necessary supplies and equipment to save lives. Our hospital has been donating to Global links for over a decade and we are proud to support their tireless efforts to help those less fortunate than us. This organization truly makes a difference in thousands of people's lives all around the world. Thank you to all who work and volunteer for this wonderful organization. What they can't use, they recycle at their expense.
Paul Feight RN CNOR

Great Experience overall. As part of a medical student group traveling to serve in Africa, I was a bit weary of where to get necessary supplies. I heard about this Global Links through one of its volunteers and was happy to hear they would accommodate our request even though most of their volunteer efforts are focused in the Americas.

I communicated with a kind representative. Although the process took a little longer than expected, I was more than pleased with the staff's understanding and execution of the request. The supplies were satisfactory.

My husband and I started volunteering this year at Global Links, and we are so impressed with this operation. It's well run, and the staff is great. They make use of everything that is donated.

I am both a volunteer and donor to this organization. As a volunteer coordinator for my congregation, Global Links has accommodated our request for bringing children in to learn about Global Links work but also to contribute to making a difference all the way to bringing in my adult team. We are a small congregation and have found that Global Links has also been a good fit for our on-going donations. We have women who sew and those who are on the look out for even 1 pr. of crutches to unused medical home health supplies. We are learning to be good stewards and reach around the globe to our brothers and sisters. Whether it is inquiring or arranging for a donation to scheduling a volunteer activity, they are always courteous and a real joy to connect with.

I volunteered a few times at Global Links before through the Pittsburgh East Rotary Club and really enjoyed my time helping them out. However, I never realized the impact of their services until starting my new job at the FOCUS Pittsburgh Free Health Center. From the moment that the doctors tat my organization connected me to Global Links for our equipment needs, I knew it would be a wonderful partnership.

They invited me over to their new facilities so I could really get a grasp on their wonderful work and the help they provide to local and international partners. They opened their doors to some of my students as well, so they could see where and who we got all of our equipment from for our clinic. Global Links took all of our requests and fulfilled our equipment needs quickly and provided us with everything we needed. Without them, our clinic would not be functioning and open! They are a wonderful organization!

I can't say enough about Global Links. This organization not only saves lives but also the environment while doing so. They carefully assess the medical needs of people in developing or disadvantaged countries or disaster areas and then work closely with local hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities to gather excess medical supplies that would otherwise end up in our landfill. Through the help of volunteers like me, they sort, separate, pack, and ship the appropriate materials where they are needed the most, such as small clinics or areas hit by natural disasters.

One of the things I love the most about Global Links is that they post pictures, videos and newsletters that show the people we help using the materials we've sent them. The things we take for granted here, such as an IV pole or crutches, can mean the difference between disability or self-sufficiency, life or death. We can see the benefit of our work and we know that every little thing we do and item we send is truly making a positive impact on people.

In my eyes, there is no more worthy cause or feeling of gratification than that of volunteering with this amazing organization!

I am in Boston for second time in my professional career.

I am at the Children Hospital Boston receiving training with in the department of pediatric neurosurgery.

I live in a developing country also it isn’t easy for me to travel over here. I am a Cuban physician.

Thanks to the wonderful work of Global Links and their help to developing countries everything is possible and when I travel back my patients will receive a medical care of the first level, Global links became dream true.

Dr. Julio S Brossard Alejo.
Head and Principal Professor
Neurosurgery
Hospital Infantil Sur
Santiago de Cuba

The BIG FIX Uganda is an organization which has been fortunate to receive help from Global Links. Working in one of the most impoverished areas in the world, we provide free veterinary services (including spay/neuter) and animal welfare education in Northern Uganda's remote villages. It might be difficult to believe that an expired suture can make so much difference but to us, that one suture is the means to allow us to sterilize 3 male dogs or to stitch up a serious wound or to remove an infected eye. Sutures are difficult and costly to obtain in Uganda and if we did not receive suture donations from Global Links, we would have great difficulty serving the hundreds of animals we help every month. We are extraordinarily grateful to Global Links for their kindness, responsiveness to our communications and for working with us as valued partners as we seek to relieve the suffering of animals in Uganda.

When my wife passed away last year, I looked for a non-profit that could put to good use the medical equipment and supplies that we had acquired for her care. Global Links turned out to be perfect for this. I am very impressed by their mission and it meant a lot to me that they were able to reuse this equipment.

I've been volunteering at Global Links for almost ten years, after going to volunteer with a group of friends. I now go twice a week, and help sort donated supplies and organize and pack outgoing boxes of supplies. It is very rewarding because you know you are both helping people in the developing world--and in a real way, with deliveries to actual small hospitals visited by Global Links staff. Nothing sits on a dock where it is stolen. Also, you are helping to keep medical supplies out of Pittsburgh landfills, where all these supplies were going to end up until Global Links founder Kathleen Hower thought of this ingenious idea. I have met wonderful people volunteering there, and have formed friendships with other volunteers who go when I do and staff.

I've been volunteering at Global Links for a while now, and I can't believe the enormous amount of medical supplies Global Links processes.

It's my very favorite place to volunteer: the joyfulness of the people who work there, the gratitude and sweetness of everyone who works there, the efficient way things are organized, and fun that it all turns out to be.

Amazing!!!

Wonderful homegrown nonprofit which combines hands-on service work with important donations of medical supplies to health programs in developing countries

Global Links is AWESOME!!!! They worked very closely with us in trying to get a dental clinic set up and stocked in Honduras. They even had a local dentist come in and help us decide what we needed since we are medical, not dental. They are a wonderful source of supplies and assistance for our medical work in Honduras!

I initially volunteered with Global Links for its healthcare efforts in developing countries. Since then I have found a whole other side to its mission; i.e. environmental stewardship/sustainability. I have also discovered that the staff are essentially committed to this mission (Sharing Surplus/Saving Lives) and live it. The result? A very well run organization that keeps trying to make itself better (less wasteful, more efficient, more collaborative to name just a few traits). Having spent the better part of my 40 year career in either non-profits or government, I recognize the extreme difficulty of paying attention to and developing such things as governance (structure, risk-management, legality, etc) while also pursing a mission. Global Links does this extremely well from what I can see. Example: Over the last year or so, they have consolidated three facilities into one new location -- with their own staff and volunteers -- while also maintaining the work of the organization. They have their values , as well as their heads and hearts and efforts, in the right place.

I was required to do volunteer hours after an alternative spring break trip with my university. We had initially visited global links for educational purposes, but then I decided I wanted to volunteer there as well. I had a fantastic experience learning about the amazing projects Global Links did across the world and talking with other volunteers. I felt so comfortable around all the volunteers and enjoyed talking and working together. I recommend this to all college students who need volunteer hours because it doesn't even feel like work.

Global links has greatly helped out my organization for two years. Each year we go on a medical mission trip to Honduras and the donations by Global links have been instrumental in making our brigade a success. All the staff I worked with were incredibly motivated and caring.

Global links is a great non-profit! All of the staff really care about what they're doing and making a difference to the hospitals and communities they work with. As a regular volunteer, I really feel like I'm making a difference too!

Before I retired from the University of Pittsburgh twelve years ago, I helped recruited staff members to join a small group of volunteers on a regular basis to sort medicals supplies. I moved to NC and have kept in touch via newsletters and emails and watched the growth of this remarkable organization. I regularly make a contribution whenever I can to support their continued success. It is amazing how other states have asked for their assistance and advice in setting up such an organization. I have fond memories of my physical support while living in Pittsburgh. L. Butera

Global Links is an incredible non-profit. The staff arduously works to strategically send medical supplies directly to medical facilities in Latin America. Their model is ecologically responsible because they work to ensure that useful supplies are not wasted and ensure that they only send supplies that the Latin American medical professionals request.

Every year for the past 30 years I have taken a group of undergraduate students from Notre Dame of Maryland University to learn about socio-economic development and to volunteer their services in San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala. This year, I heard about Global Links and their ability to supply medicines and medical equipment to people on medical and other missions in the developing world. I contacted them, provided them with information about the 65 bed clinic in San Lucas, which is a part of an integral development project started by Father Greg Schaeffer from the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnessota, and within weeks I had the supplies. I really appreciated the immediate response and the lack of bureaucracy of Global Links. Dr. Tum, the cakchiquel doctor, who was trained in Minnessota, couldn't believe that we, as non-medical volunteers had brought sutures, syringes, needles, gloves to his clinic. Payment for services and medications at the San Lucas Clinic is based on need. Since the average income of patients is between $1,000 and $2,000 a year, most services are provided free of charge. It was particularly significant for our group to have brought the medical donations this year, as Father Greg, the creator of the project, had died only a few months earlier.

In March 2012 I co-led a group of 25 volunteers to the Dominican Republic. In addition to medical clinics we conducted construction projects, children's programs, evangelism and (for the first time) dental services! Every time I've traveled abroad for mission work Global Links has miraculously met our requests for supplies. The year prior we had a request for an X-ray light box and sure enough they found one for us to take!! This past year Global Links provided us nebulizers & supplies. Because of the poor living condition we frequently run into people with breathing problems. Yearly we provide a medical clinic for a local prison. The prisoners sleep on dirt or cement floor with no blankets or mattresses unless provided by family. Many of them have breathing problems that are worsened by their living conditions. Multiple families have benefited this year from the breathing treatments we were able to provide. One prisoner who has chronic asthma received much relief when we showed up with our nebulizer. Thanks to Global Links ongoing support we were able to leave 2 nebulizers with supplies at the prison for use as needed by the inmates. This past year we were able to provide medical services to over 1000 men, women and children over 4 clinic days. Thanks again to our friends from Global Links!! Steel City Mission Group

I recently traveled to Honduras with a group of 20 other medical personnel to provide care in a rural village. We left with numerous supplies from Global Links including gloves, gauze, lancets to name a few. Global Links was very willing to provide everything we had requested for our trip and gathered our supplies so quickly. We were able to use these supplies as part of our Child Health Initiative to improve preventive care with the children in San Jose El Negrito and surrounding areas. We make these trips twice annually and have enough remaining supplies to help us provide care for our next visit. I really enjoyed working with Global Links as everyone was so friendly and accommodating and hope we can work together for future trips.

My relationship with Global Links started when I attended a fund raising event in December, 2009. I was impressed with the work of this charity in donating medical supplies to developing countries in the Caribbean and Africa. I became a volunteer and donate my time about once a month.
Due to my volunteer work, I was surprised to see the mount of medical supplies discarded in the US that still can be used. Global Links saw the need and collects the excess medical supplies and distribute the materials to under serviced countries. If Global Links didn’t collect these materials, it would end up in landfills. Therefore, I commend Global Links for its charity work in assisting Caribbean and African countries with their medical needs.
I was able to secure a generous donation of medical supplies to Grenada (my homeland) of $111,000 in December of 2011. The donation was based on their needs and included furnishings, equipment, medical supplies and instruments. Global Links did an excellent job and the donated supplies have helped the citizens of Grenada.

I have a long standing partnership with the medical department at Kamuzu Central Cemtral Hospital in Malawi, and I coordinate service-learning rotations for medical students and residents in Pittsburgh. We get requests from KCH for medical supply, anything from microscopes, centrifuges, syringes, glucometers and various catheters. Global Links has always been very helpful and responsive to KCH and our needs often clarifying its specific use and making suggestions for alternatives to fit the low resource environment and adapting to users that are also learning the tools. GL always asks for feedback and ready for future trips and challenges. I'm grateful that we have them in our city but I know that distance is NOT a problem for GL! Our group of learners volunteer with GL to sort medical supplies and to transport sutures to other hospitals in Malawi.

Angela and David of Global Links provided clinical equipment and furniture for a new health center and resident facility located on the South Side in Pittsburgh. These items provided a cost savings of more than $10,000. The items will be utilized by patients who experienced significant hardships such as homelessness, illness and economic problems.

I was in awe at the amount of medical surplus that we discard in America, that could still be used. I was happy to hear that this charity helps to redistribute these medical supplies to under-serviced communities, so that they do not get dumped in landfills. I really enjoyed learning about all the amazing work this organization has done, and it was an honor to be able to help sort medical supplies that might one day save someone's life! And on top of that, we had a lot of fun too!

I became involved with Global Links when I moved to Pittsburgh about a year ago. I have been extremely pleased with volunteering at this organization! I have had great experiences with all of the staff and fellow volunteers. I love how you can actually see the difference being made each shift. Various items are sorted and packed and by the time you leave you've finished tons of boxes that are all set, just waiting to be shipped to hospitals in need. I also really appreciate their scheduling flexibility! My schedule is constantly changing, never the same each week. When I moved here there were other places I had looked into that required a very set schedule. Global Links has been amazing to accommodate me, which I was very happy with as I really enjoy helping out. It was also great to work with the staff to help set up donations through the hospital I work at. I'm excited that now my unit can help contribute our unused supplies as well!

AliMed had a large inventory of surplus surgical insturments, and orthopedic products. We contacted Angela Garcial and sent the lists of the products for review. Global links quickly responded to our extensive list and has been very resposive to additonal lists of products.They are easy to do business with and understands the business side of our operation. It is very satisfying know the products we donate will be used to help others throughout the world.

I first learned about medical supply recovery in the Fall of 2010 and then began researching other organizations involved in this effort. I currently volunteer with MEDworld at UNC and REMEDY at Duke, which are much smaller, hospital-based nonprofits in North Carolina doing similar work to GL. As helpful and inspiring as those programs are, however, I often find myself comparing them to Global Links, which I consider a model organization. Global Links' reach goes far beyond one hospital's surplus -- they collect usable medical supplies and equipment from many different sources in numerous states. Their dedication to making sure that the collected supplies go to areas in most need and where they will be most useful is impressive. I visited Global Links' offices in October of 2011 and found their staff very personable, helpful, and knowledgeable. They patiently answered my questions about their organization and explained the many ways it is possible to support their efforts such as through their suture and nebulizer donation programs. I have contacted the staff since that visit and plan to use them as a resource again in the future. CEO and co-founder Kathleen Hower generously gave of her time to discuss many of the issues I am interested in regarding expanding medical supply recovery efforts in the Research Triangle area of NC. I also find the Global Links website to be very helpful, up-to-date, and informative. Global Links makes a huge difference in the lives of many people around the world with their medical surplus; its involvement and outreach in the greater Pittsburgh area in other environmental and humanitarian issues is equally inspiring. I am a proud supporter of Global Links.

I first got involved with Global Links as a member of a graduate student group that wanted to do something for the local community. Global Links has been able to accommodate our busy schedules, staying open late so that we can still volunteer and help their cause. They make every effort to reduce waste and save energy, and have really pushed us to be aware of excess of resources in our community. There is a lot of "waste" in medical research that can be put to a better cause, so they have made us students much more conscientious in our work life as well.

I initially began working with Global Links in 2005, as a medical student working in subsaharan Africa for a year. Global Links provided suture as well as requested medical equipment for a maternity hospital that badly needed supplies. Over the years, GL has continued to provide professional, timely, and much-needed care to this facility. They always seek feed-back from the clinicians working abroad and only provide that which is requested. I can honestly say the donations they have coordinated have saved countless numbers of women's lives. I have only had positive experiences working with this organization.

I am a volunteer in Nicaragua where health supplies are direly needed. As a Global Llinks client for the past 15 years, I am pleased to recall that my many requests for needed donations have always been filled immediately and with great care. The staff is well aware of my particular work and many times will add extra supplies that they feel can be used here. Their personal interest in my work is refreshing and greatly appreciated. Submitted by Donna Tabor, Building New Hope, Nicaragua

Coming from a country where many necessary things for health are difficult to find for most of the population, and having a firsthand experience of how these same things are disposed in USA, I support the labor of Global Links in making available these resources to those who need and can use them. Most of the time the problem is the collection and transportation of the resources to the specific areas where they are needed. The labor of Global Links provides this needed "link" to the benefit of the people receiving the resources, and to the people of USA avoiding the pile-up of dis-carted items in our communities.

This organization is an exceptional example of reaching out to those who have so little in material things but so much appreciation to offer. The needs of undeveloped nations is great and Global Links puts us in contact with those who face unbelievable hardships in terms of their health and their every day struggles to survive. What our hospitals call trash becomes a lifeline to those in need.

The people at Global Links are very thoughtful. Before becoming a volunteer, they give a nice tour of the place and explain their "business." Only good things to say about them!

I have volunteered and also am a consuder of the medical equipment sent to a project overseas that I work with in Central America. GL has people in the field and an approach that is not about influence or simply contacts in country. They aim for sustainable support to entities that are working hard in that direction. Bridging the gap between public/governmental agencies and NGO's, they aim to strengthen health systems. Generally, I think they do just that. All the while, we are saving waste and using appropriate equipment until it's time is done.

Global Links is a wonderful non-profit organization that is very conscious of the environment. Nothing goes to waste there including the medical supplies that are packed for the third world countries. I have been volunteering there for several years and it is such a wonderful, successful, and extremely well-organized organization. I give it a 5 star recommendation. I come every two months on a Sat. with my church group and the second Tuesday of every month with friends. Everyone who volunteers here is so impressed with the mission of this group. It is amazing how much we accomplish when we are there.

I was introduced to Global Links through my son and a friend ( Global Links employee) who had served together in the Peace Corps in El Salvador. As a newly retired nurse/hospital administrator, they wanted me to serve in the Peace Corps, but I was not ready yet to venture that far in focus or foreign lands! Through Global Links, I was able to get involved in redirecting unused, but still good resources to improve the quality of healthcare in other countries, all while reducing waste in my own country, values/goals important to me. I have now become regularly involved in case packing supplies, recruiting new volunteers on college campuses and encouraging the nurses in home care organizations to donate unused supplies. The appreciation they consistently demonstrate for their volunteers is exceptional and the effort to redirect, repurpose or reuse every donated item that comes their way is phenomenal. Global Links is my "commitment to caring" in retirement and I love it and the people I have met since joining this effort!

I think Global Links is a wonderful place. The work they do is amazing. Their warehouse is full of perfectly good hospital equipment which would end up in a landfill somewhere if global Links didn't recycle , package and ship to clinics and hospitals in South America. It's a shame what we waste and Global Links is doing a terrific job of making use of perfectly good merchindise that would otherwise be discarded. I love volunteering for them , helping to sort and package items. The people are friendly and very compitent.

The dedicated staff and volunteers at Global Links do life-saving work. By collecting and sending perfectly usable but unneeded medical equipment, supplies, and furnishings from U.S. hospitals to under-resourced hospitals and clinics in developing countries, Global Links puts to good use what would otherwise be discarded.

When I turned 13, I decided to raise money for a non-profit. I choose Global LInks because I had heard it was a great organization and I thought that what they were doing was critical to the world. I ended up raising 1,600 dollars for the organization, and I am so glad i did. During the whole process, the Global Links people helped me, included me, and over all made me feel very welcome and appreciated. I would do it again in a heart beat. It's a great organization with great people in it.

Global Links recycles everything that is possible to recycle and has it clearly marked so we volunteers know where to put what!

Global Links is an excellent organization with whom I've personally volunteered and, whenever available, professionally donated surplus medical products. There is ridiculous waste and surplus in the United States, yet dire need in most other parts of the world. Global Links is an extremely well-run, efficient, non-profit, humanitarian organization that truly recognizes this and continues to make a serious difference to best use and re-use for the good of less fortunate others. They also promote a consciousness to recycle and reuse in many other aspects. Anyone spending just one day with them in their very humble building would immediately see, feel and appreciate the spanse of their work! They are "life savers!"

Global Links starts with a great model: take still-useful things from a place where they might have trouble getting used and share them in places where they can save lives. One of the distinguishing factors about their model is their attention to the needs of recipient facilities in recipient countries. For this organization, keeping useful things out of the landfill only starts the process; making sure there's a home for it where it will be used completes the circle. They make great use of volunteers on both a one-off and on-going basis.

They are outstanding in everything area of their work. They have a gret group of people helping to make them a success.

I love donating to Global Links. I think that they take "recycling" to a whole new level. I love the idea that nothing that can be used should go to waste and I think that is what they are really all about. I also realize that they do their work with the utmost saftey in mind for the people who receive the medical goods that Global Links acquires. This is a non-profit at it's best.

Global Links gives each of us an opportunity to reach out to people all over the world who are in need of medical help. Anytime I have had someone close who has been ill and then no longer needs whatever supplies they were using I make sure those supplies are given to Global Links. Then I know that another person will have the chance to get well, be comfortable, and heal. Personally, I have given crutches, nebulizers, bandages. It makes no sense to put these things to the curb for trash pick up when Global Links will get then to people who will truly benefit by having access to them. When I see something about GlobalLinks, I pause and think, "Thrigh them, I have helped others. It is a beautiful organization.

I was so pleased to find Global Links! I just retired from nursing & found that I had so many used scrubs. I wasn't sure what in the world to do with them, then I found Global Links. It was so easy to send them my 'gently used' scrubs to their headquarters in Philadelphia (& cheaper, too). I am sure there will be many people using my scrubs in Third World countries. My hope is that my love of nursing will rub off from my old scrubs to someone there! they truly do deserve this award for ALL they do! From Retired RN, Baltimore, MD

Started out just knowing they distributed surplus medical supplies. Found out about the flip-side (environmental stewardship) later. It only reinforced my respect for a well-run agency. They have staying power as evidenced by the quality of young people they attract -- as staff, volunteers. Will continue to give my support as long into my retirement as I am able. Go Global Links. You Rock!

Global Links is one of the best run nonprofits that I have ever worked with here and in the DC area. The Exec. Director stays so true to the mission and never strays from that no matter what. The work Global Links does makes so much sense in many ways - environmentally, medically, and humanly. The result is something that leaves a remarkably clear, profound impact of the countries that they serve as well as on the community from which they draw their "product."

I first found out about Global Links approximately a year ago. The hospital I work for participates in supply items and supplies to your organization. They also had an inservice for staff and found out that I was able to volunteer. So, I signed up and asked a few friends to join and we gave ourselves a name and started getting involved. What a wonderful idea to collect unwanted hospital items and supplies and gifting them to others in order to live. What a sharing, caring heart to be shared throughtout the world. I hope you can expand to other countries as time goes on. Keep up the good work and God Bless you with continued success.

In volunteering with Global Links you really do feel like you're are directly affecting peoples lives all over the world. The organization goes above and beyond to try and suit the experience of the volunteer to match their experience and ability. Most one time volunteers go in and pack medical supplies, which is a remarkable experience because you literally are providing essential goods for medical clinics abroad. Everything that is packed is typically shipped out quickly, the equipment that is sent could be used by needy medical personnel only a few days later. Personally, I normally work fixing medical devices and wheelchairs. When a device is finished, the feeling of success lingers, as I know that the product I was working on will be in the hands of someone in need within a couple days. Global Links is also one of the most sustainable organizations I have ever worked with. Everything we use is recycled, or re purposed. It is rare when anything goes to waste. Wheel chairs are fixed by ripping apart severely broken wheel chairs and integrating parts into less damaged chairs. We literally are taking products which easily could be in a landfill and redirect their purpose. Most supplies that come into Global Links would have been thrown in the trash if global links had not stepped in and taken them. This is easily the best non-profit humanitarian group I have ever worked with, in terms of sustainability, effort in recycling, overall competency, and importance of volunteering. Global Links should be considered as a model for other non-profits around the world.

I gather with a few friends for a few hours once a month to sort medical supplies and pack them into cartons for mailing to countries where they are desperately needed. I imagine someone opening the box and finding exactly what was needed at that particular moment, and it is as if I had actually put that item directly into an outstretched hand.

I read your newsletter and am constantly impressed by the wonderful things you are doing to improve healthcare for the poor.

Global Links provides volunteers with the opportunity to help sort and package medical supplies to send to developing countries. One of the nice things about Global Links is that they have built a strong rapport with area hospitals and they are able to recycle a lot of material that would otherwise be discarded. It feels really good to know that the waste material is limited and is able to be recirculated to those who would otherwise not have these supplies. Global Links provides their volunteers with publications that show actual relief that is gained by their work.

When the catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti in Jan 2010, my company looked for the entity to which it made the most sense to donate. We raised $2000 by selling product online for 4 months and donating all the proceeds. We were privileged to have this opportunity to provide a way for our customers to donate to this urgent cause, and know that their donations would be used more efficiently and in a more timely manner than anywhere else they could have donated.

An excellent organization with a dual impact both locally and globally. Efficient use of volunteer time and educational. Quantitative successes that truly change lives.

Although my experience as a volunteer advisor & Board member with Global Links goes back 2 decades, perhaps it will provide some long-term perspective on the organization. In the early 1990's, I was an emergency physician based in Pittsburgh, but with a strong interest in global health (seeing patients, doing disaster work or conducting research in settings as diverse as Nepal, the Marshall Islands, Central America & the South Pole). Kathleen & her co-founder Brenda brought tremendous passion & dedication to their mission, working nights & weekends to build a network of hospitals & clinics who could donate equipment & supplies, to coordinate the complex logistics of delivering the donations around the world, & to monitor & evaluate accountability & effectiveness of the recipient organizations. They led by example & inspired a team of (almost!) equally hardworking staff & volunteers - a really impressive example of executing on an idea to make an important difference in the world.

Our organization donates returned equipment to Global Links rather than sending it to a scrapyard for recycling. The value of the hardware as scrap pales in comparison to the value it provides its new users, typically medical facilities in Latin America and the Caribbean. I have been associated with Global Links in one capacity or another for over 20 years and know they put donations to good use; I'm proud to have a small part to play in their work.

I choose the category of donor because that's what I've done in the last few years. Previously, I've volunteered to help sort and pack to send much needed supplies and equipment to Carribean countries. Recently I have also reached out to friends and family successfully convincing them to become donors as well. Although it didn't take much convincing from me since Global Links' record of service, newsletters and reports are so very factual and compasionate. I know several staff members from their years of work with Global Links and some with other social justice projects. It makes me so happy that I can enthusiastically endorse their integrity, frugality, reliability, professionalism and environmental principles to my friends and family. It is a pleasure to donate to the suture campaign, work in Haiti and much more knowing that every hard earned dollar of mine is going to enable better care to my fellow human beings because of the great work of Global Links.

I have made a few trips to India and Africa and three times Global Links has provided me with medical equipment to assist the small clinics visited. I know that this is a very small part of their overall activity but it's clear that they have the resources, and use them, to assist in providing very needed healthcare supplies around the world.

Volunteering at Global Links is a great experience for me and my whole family. We feel like we're doing somehting really important and that even our teenagers can help with. Volunteers are instrumental in achieveing the mission of the organization but also learn a great deal, for example, about health care in the developing world, and the abundance of waste that is not recycled on our own healthcare system.

I have volunteered for many organizations, but Global Links is my favorite because of the great, necessary and far-reaching work that they do. Every day they take medical supplies that otherwise would be tossed away and send them to countries where they are desperately needed. Before Global Links existed, millions of dollars worth of supplies were thrown into the trash. Now these resources are being used to save lives! The staff at Global LInks always has an eye toward utilizing volunteers efficiently. A project is ready to go, a staff member will explain how everything is to be sorted and packed, and we all enjoy seeing how much work we can accomplish in just a few hours. I recommend this organization to anyone looking for meaningful volunteer work.

I first met Global Links through my favorite mentor who sits on their board. I have many pet causes, but I knew that if my wonderful mentor supported it, then I knew it was worth taking a second look. My next encounter was as a consultant helping Global Links re-design their operations to minimize waste and maximize how they used every minute and every dollar. I was impressed with their desire to make the most of every resource they had to continuously expand their reach and impact. I also appreciated their focus on understanding their customers' actual needs. Rather than exporting surplus medical supplies, they come from the perspective of allowing customers to "pull" what they need and import only what can actually be used. Now, I am a loyal donor and supporter. I have lived in third world countries and have seen the need that Global LInks is helping to meet. I appreciate that they collaborate with host countries--in a professional, respectful way. Because I have worked briefly with the organization, I give confidently knowing that my dollars are honored and used carefully--to bless the lives of patients and health professionals alike in a way that promotes the spirit of re-use and recycling.

I came to volunteer at Global Links with interest in their mission. I spent a few months working there and helping to sort medical equipment and supplies that were being sent to those in need. One of the great realizations for me was how much of an effort Global Links puts into their mission to rescue this equipment that would otherwise be sent to the landfill. The millions of pounds of medical supplies and equipment that is rescued and redistributed is life changing to those who are receiving as well as the global impact that is thwarted from the poundage being kept from landfills. Amazing work on so many levels!

GlobalLinks has helped us to assemble and send birthing kits to a hospital in Kenya - by recycling good but disgarded materials such as gloves through Gl;obalLinks we have been able to provide thousands of kits to enable women in Kenya to have health births with midwives.

For about six years, I have volunteered with Global Links and have found their organization and mission to be something I appreciate and support wholeheartedly. Last summer, I continued my relationship with them through an internship. Global LInks provides their donors and volunteers with the opportunity to feel as though they are making a significant contribution through hands-on volunteer work and regular email updates. I am continually impressed with their ability to integrate issues like global health and environmental responsibility and not look at any one issue independently. Furthermore, their success as a organization for over 20 years is based on their ability to adapt their operations to utilize new technologies and strategies, which is an effort I have been directly involved with.

The CEO of global links, Kathleen Hower, has assembled a passionate staff of 23 employees and over 9,000 volunteer hours from almost 2,000 individuals. They do an amazing job of recoveriing medical supplies that would otherwise end up in a landfill and distributing them to countries in-need. Their regional material recovery efforts top 250 tons annually and are distributed primarily in 9 countries including Nicaragua, Guatemala, Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Bolivia. Since 1989, Global Links has provided over $172 million in aid – plus materials to Pittsburgh nonprofits including free-care clinics, animal welfare groups and schools.

Global links is a WONDERFUL non-profit. They provided me with useful medical supplies for my pediatric free clinic.

Global Links partners with Zonta Club of Pittsburgh to provide birthing kits to a hospital in rural Kenya which has few basic supplies . The kits provide basics for a clean birth. Not only has Global Links provide us with hundreds of pairs of clean gloves that would have been disposed of in an American landfill, they have assisted with ways to more effectively develop the project and to safely ship kits. We, in return, have helped with their work in Haiti by providing kits to them. The result--appropriate, targeted use of discarded but useable medical equipment; providing kits both allows mothers to use midwifery services because they have the required materials and provides a way to have a clean birth. Mother, baby and caregiver benefit and we protect the environment by using available goods not getting new ones!! Global Links was incredible in freely offering their considerable experience. Elizabeth Stifel M.D., Zonta Club of PGH

The people are very friendly and welcoming to volunteers as they come in the door. When we get in, we start almost immediately. It is nice to see the little review video explaining more in depth what it is Global Links does. It really shows the impact we make as volunteers and makes it apparent how important it is for us to pack and organize supplies.

As volunteers with Global Links my wife and I have had nothing but a positive experience each time we are able be there. They stay true to their mission of " Sharing Surplus,Saving Lives" We are always treated well at each of our sessions and made to feel like we are appreciated. The organization is well managed from the top down and they never forget where they came from. We have seen them grow over the years but have done this with a measured expansion with a nod to doing this in a manner where they carefully calculate the true needs of how they help each request. We are proud to be a very small part of this great organization.

I am a sophomore engineering student at the University of Pittsburgh and am vice president of a club called Engineers for Sustainable Medical Development. Our club has similar ideologies as Global Links does so we have teamed up with them. Both of our main goals are to provide sustainable and appropriate medical equipment to developing countries. Global Links has given us weekly volunteer opportunities in their warehouse fixing wheelchairs and other medical equipment. This has allowed us to get some hands on engineering experience. Also, Global Links has teamed up with our club to set up a service study abroad program for students. We will be able to send a couple engineering students to developing countries to help repair medical equipment and also, bring valuable equipment with us. The relationship my club and Global Links has built is invaluable. They have given Pitt students so many opportunities while still helping people in the developing world. I think Global Links should win this award because they help the medical conditions in the developing world in a responsible, green way but also, they help their community in Pittsburgh like giving a college club a chance to make a difference as well.

I GOT CONNECTED TO GLOBAL LINKS OVER FIVE YEARS AGO. AS A MEDICAL PROVIDER WHO DOES MEDICAL MISSIONARY TRIPS THREE TIMES A YEARS, I AM ALWAYS IN NEED OF SUPPLIES/ MEDICATIONS/PAPER PRODUCTS. OVER THE LAST NINE YEARS, MANY ORGANIZATIONS HAVE CUT BACK ON ACCESS TO THIS PRODUCTS AND AS MEDICAL DIRECTOR IN CHARGE OF SECURING THESE SUPPLIES, I HAVE FOUND GLOBAL LINKS TO BE FAITHFUL CONTRIBUTORS. I AM ALSO GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO VOLUNTEER ON SAT MORNINGS TO HELP PACKAGE THESE SUPPLIES. THEY HAVE BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN CONNECTING THOSE ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES TO THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES. WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT THIS MISSING LINK THAT GLOBAL LINKS PROVIDES? I AM BLESSED TO HAVE MEET THEM AND I WILL ALWAYS SUPPORT THE WORK THAT THEY HAVE BEEN CALLED TO FULFILL. DO YOU HAVE A MOMENT TO ASSIST THEM IN THEIR FUTURE ENDEAVORS? SUPPORT GLOBAL LINKS WITH YOUR TIME AND MONEY, KNOWING THAT IT WILL BE WELL SPENT. THE TWO HOURS VOLUNTEER SESSION IS WELL ORGANIZED AND CARRIED OUT IN EFFICIENT MANNER, GETTING SUPPLIES TOGETHER QUICKLY FOR TARGETED MEDICAL GROUPS. I GIVE THEM TOP STARS.

I have worked with Global Links when we needed supplies for Haiti in an emergency situation. They were fantastic to work with. I also worked with them when a 100 bed facility was 'going out of business and needed to have their beds and supplies removed relatively quickly. Again they were wonderful to work with.

As a critical care nurse working in Pittsburgh i have been able to organize, as part of our community service commitment, a number of volunteer efforts wherein critical care nurses work with the GL Team packing medical supplies to send throughout the world to countries where they are needed. These GL folks are focused, well informed and dedicated. doing an extraordinary job unselfishly. My unit and my hospital also contribute medical supplies to this effort.

I volunteered with them to clean off IV poles and once again to organize equipment to be shipped. Both times were pleasant, the staff was helpful, the other volunteers were interesting and nice.

Global Links is an Organization that, with a simple formula, is solving complex life threatening challenges in developing countries mainly in Latin America and the Caribbean. I have had the experience of seeing medical facilities and meeting patients similar to the ones Global Links is benefiting with their work, and it is hard to believe that such situations still exist when the scarce resources needed in those places are abundant in other parts of the world. This is exactly what Global Links mends and how it adds value as an innovative organization.
I believe that the supplies being provided and the tailored way in which is being done by GL, are solving real problems and many lives. I am impressed with the passion of the staff and hundreds of volunteers that, without knowing these patients or doctors in far away countries, understand the importance of their work and show enormous respect for them by providing top quality materials that meet the highest standards.
I strongly believe that Global Links is a serious, pioneering and passion-driven Organization that is changing the lives of many human beings.

UPMC Shadyside values relationship-based care and practice. Our nurses see themselves as good neighbors in their hospital’s urban community, a part of Pittsburgh that is home to people from many walks of life, educational and income levels, and ethnic backgrounds. Within our community we have the good fortune of partnering with Global Links to extend our boundaries even further. Because of this relationship, both nurses and the communities prosper. Strengthening our ties to our local and even international community’s builds rapport and facilitates understanding of needs and the evolution of patient-centered initiatives. Thanks to the work we do with Global Links our nurses have embraced this interconnectedness and can be found in local, national and international venues.

I work at a large medical facility that has chosen to donate products to the Global Links community. As a facilitator of this process at our hospital I have met and spoken to the staff at the organization. The manager of the local facility presented an in-service to the perioperative group explaining the needs of the organization and the products that they can accept. It was very informative and helped the staff to understand the benefits of sending the products that we "discard" to Global Links so that they can recycle it for use in underprivileged areas that would not have access to the products otherwise. I personally met with staff at the facility to help them understand the different types of sterilization used to reprocess items. I also explained about outdates and the event related issues of outdating. We discussed the issues of manufacti=ure outdates versus event related issues. The group was extremly interested in the information and were very receptive to me. It was a real pleasure to visit and tour their facility and see the effort that they put into seperating the supplies, identifying and cataloging them. This work will allow them to be able to let different countries know what they have to send. The result is that supplies, equipment, and instruments that are no longer of use to us can be sent to a hospital that has the need and would not be able to afford theses things. I would like to at some time be able to be a volunteer to visit the countries that benefit from the generosity of these items. All thiese items would be thrown away if Global Links were not a beneficiary.

GL is amazing! The volunteer routine of sorting and packing supplies is organized so that no time is wasted. At the end of your 2 hour shift, it is very satisfying to see all the sealed boxes of supplies ready to ship. I also volunteer for Shoulder-to-Shoulder Pittsburgh and GL provides medical supplies for our twice yearly mission trips to Honduras. We count on GL to provide us with supplies we couldn't afford to regularly purchase.

I have been very impressed with Global Links’ targeted approach and ability to measure results and impacts in the regions in which they work. Their mission addresses the triple bottom line – social, environmental and economic indicators of success. They make the donation process very easy and efficient. Earlier this year I attended a presentation by Global Links about rebuilding Haiti’s healthcare system. The presentation showed the importance and value of items like tables, chairs and beds which many of us take for granted but provide dignity and comfort for those in underserved healthcare communities. Our company foresees an ongoing relationship with Global Links. They are an excellent organization with a life saving mission.

Global Links has been instrumental in helping my program the Medical Equipment Recycling Program in Farrell, PA meet our mission. We take in durable medcial equipment, clean it, refurbish it and then lend it to those who do not have the insurance or means to obtain the equipment they need to maintain their independence in daily living. We also take in items that can be sent overseas. These items go to Global Links who makes sure someone benefits from the items but Global Links also collects in items that my program desperately needs. It has been a beneficial partnership that has allowed both organizations to meet their missions and touch numerous lives in the US and all over the world!! We are honored to work with Global Links and they have gone out of there way to assist us!!

We did a mission trip in March 2012 to the LaCroix Mission in Haiti . A big part of our mission was medical care. Global Links was a great partner in our mission, supplying medical supplies that were greatly needed. Our medical staff saw many patients. Another important element of the mission was teaching and encouraging the Haitian medical staff, and providing supplies for them to work with.

Global Links is an outstanding organization! I volunteer regularly (about once a month, for several years now) with a group from my church. We sort and package surplus medical supplies to be sent to needy areas. They collect used or surplus medical supplies and ship them to hospitals all over the world that lack a lot of basic equipment and common medical and surgical supplies. Most of the work of sorting and packing is done by volunteers. They save things that would normally be discarded and help out doctors and patients with necessary medical equipment and basic supplies. We've sorted suture, gauze bandages, surgical drapes, catheters of all sorts, all kinds of things (it's different each time!) There are even people who refurbish old hospital beds, wheelchairs, etc. I've collected crutches from people on freecycle and taken them in for Global Links, too. It's very moving to see photos and read letters from people who've been helped by these donations.

I have followed the work of Global Links for several years, and am consistently impressed by their commitment to growing their impact while keeping administrative costs low. Because they share the stories of both the environmental and human impact of what they do so effectively, they are blessed with hundreds of volunteers who donate thousands of hours each year, and an ever-growing roster of hospital and community partners. They are also mindful of their role as ambassadors for those served by their donations of medical equipment and supplies. Global Links actively seek opportunities to engage and educate the community (including hospitals, businesses, corporations and the general public) about their work in order to draw attention to both the medical needs of those in resource poor countries, and to the many opportunities to be a part of Global Links' work. I also have noted their creativity in developing new ways for the general public to participate in collecting and redirecting materials.

Excellent organization which aids all of the America's and other countries as needed.

I have been working with Global Links for over 10 years and I am extremely impressed with their commitment to help those in need here in our community as well as overseas. My office is the hub for donations from fellow colleagues, patients and friends. We are not only helping the planet by responsibly getting rid of unused equipment and devices, but we are donating these things to an organization whose sole mission is to help those in need. Global Links is structured and organized, dedicated and sincere in reaching the poorest of poor to give them a more meaningful life. As a donor organization, it fills us with pride that we are doing the right thing. Thank you Global Links!

Global Links has been supplying my organization for the past three years now. With their help, we've been able to set up clinics in parts of rural Honduras and Panama that otherwise wouldn't have access to medical care. Global Links also hosts regular talks about health disparities across the world that renew my passion for serving central america, and open my eyes to the complexities of the issues we're working together to overcome.

Global Links is a non-profit that specializes in supplying medical equipment and supplies to developing countries. I worked at a mission hospital in Malawi that received sutures and other supplies from Global Links. The uniquely wonderful thing about Global Links is that they only supply what you ask for and need. They do not send just any medical donated junk, but only what you have asked for. This means that they spend a lot of time sorting through what they have to find what you need. Their donated sutures have saved hundreds of lives in Africa.

Recently we treated a patient from the Vaik region of Armenia. He recovered 25 days after cystectomy with ileocystoplasty . In operating on this patient, we used sutures from the Global Links Suture Program, which generously decided to make donations to our hospital 5 years ago. For the past five years we have been receiving sutures and have used them in more than 70 major surgical procedures similar to this one, as well as in more than 2,000 smaller operations. We have never had any complications when using the sutures. All the types of sutures donated were exactly the same as those used in our regular work. We can say that the vast majority of those operations performed wouldn’t have been possible without the donated sutures. That is why we have let all our patients know how much they owe to the Global Links Suture Program for their successful treatment, and they are extremely grateful. This patient, in particular, wanted to express his thanks to Global Links and all US clinics participating in the Global Links Suture Program.
Here are this patient’s words: ”I was informed that our surgeons used sutures from Global Links when operating on me. I want to send my warm thanks to Global Links Suture Program and their suppliers for the great job which they constantly do for patients in many different countries. I will remember their help for the rest of my life.
Victor.

I am Lois Weeks, a retired nurse, who, along with a team of American nurse midwives and nurses have been working with the comadronas in Santa Avelina. Today we went to the Puesto de Salud in San Juan Cotzal to learn what resources would be available for our comadronas and the mothers and babies they care for. We were impressed beyond anything we had expected! The doctors and nurses seemed to be very vested in the clinic, the care they are giving, and the improvements that are happening. They have started some very needed programs to teach comadronas and families in the rural areas. They have improved their facilities and equipment, much due to your organization. They (and we) are very excited about the higher level of care they now can give. Their decision to move outside the clinic walls and go to the communities to teach families and comadronas is dramatic. I want to thank-you for your support for this area! We have come to love the people here, and rejoice with them!

Conocia el trabajo de de Global Links porque los aportes de esta organizacion han tenido un impacto muy posotivo en la atencion de pacientes en el oriente de Cuba con patologias neuroquirurgicas, pero en esta primera visita a la sede cetral de Pittsburgh he visto que detras de todos estos aportes a pacientes de paises en desarrollo hay un impresionante equipo de personas maravillosas consagradas a su trabajo y muchos voluntarios de alma y corazon para estas nobles tareas.
Gracias Global Links por existir y por contribuir en la mejoria de la calidad de vida ya atencion de tantas personas.
Ustedes demuestran en la practica que un mundo mejor tambien es posible.

I learned about Global Links because the support this organization has provided to the western part of Cuba has had a positive impact on the medical care of patients with neurosurgical pathologies. But in this, my first visit to their headquarters in Pittsburgh, I have seen that behind all this support to countries in development is a wonderful group of people dedicated to their work and many volunteers dedicated in heart and soul to this noble work.

Thanks Global Links for existing and contributing to the improvement of the quality life and medical care of so many people. You are proof that a better world is possible.

I have witnessed the passion that drives Global Links first hand during my time as a volunteer. It can be heard in the enthusiastic voices of the staff and seen in the dedicated longtime volunteers. It's truly an amazing group of people furthering an amazing cause.

I love being able to not only take usable medical supplies out of the wastestream, but make sure they are well sorted and able to be readily used/re-used by partner clients in Latin America and the Caribbean. This is truly conservation at work. Volunteering at Global Links is always rewarding!

I am the Director of Guatemala Surgery/Common Hope and we provide surgical services to the poor of that country who have no other alternatives. We do about 150-180 operations yearly and when you talk surgery, you talk suture.

We found out the hard way how expensive suture is years ago when our ususal donor closed. Subsequently, we have searched high and low for suture to accommodate our needs and the friendly, helpful and sincere people at Global Links have been wonderful. They understand our situation. I am very impressed.

I volunteered at Global Links for some time until 2006 and I have been amazed by it since the beginning.
I liked the seriousness of the working staff and that of my fellow volunteers, I respected the knowledge of the medical consultants and I admired the precision of the job done there.
It is amazing how we can collect life-saving equipments and medicines that we would OTHERWISE THROW AWAY and just redirect them to whom is in need.
But not just somewhere in the world, that it would be good enough already, but to specific and carefully chosen hospital structures where Global Links has trusted people ready to distribute them fairly.
I am looking forward to find the time to go back to volunteer.
The most emotional moment was when I had to pack infants oxygen masks, I couldn't believe that I was so lucky to be the one touching something that would be able to save a little life.
I believe so much in it that even when I stopped volunteering, just for personal reasons, I tried to help in every other way , with donations or just informing people.

I enjoyed sorting medical supplies while talking with the other volunteers. In the case of the supplies that Global Links sends abroad, one person's trash really is another person's treasure. I did not realize that some hospitals abroad have so few supplies.

I was cleaning out my mother's house and had items to donate --
shower chair, walker, canes, etc. and saw an ad for pick up of donated items close to my home. We took the items, they were placed in a truck right away. Everyone was very friendly. We received notification of the donated items afterwards. It was all very simple and certainly served our needs to donate items.

I Know Global Links to have provided the best service to needy foreign countries than any one else in this field

They visit each site before hand and ask the recipients what they need and provide only usable items that are in workign order and adapted to the local electrical system .

I highly recomend Global Links to any person or organization that wants to make a difference

Frank Suatoni MD

i loved volunteering with global links. The staff is very friendly and the work is fun. The fact that all of the supplies that they recover would have been thrown away and placed in a US landfill is sad, but it's great that they have found a system to retrieve the supplies and get them to people that need them!!

As a health care professional it is my pleasure to share with you what an outstanding job Global Links does in providing medical supplies, and equipment needs to the less fortunate. This organization reduces waste by re-cyling gently used medical furniture, equipment and supplies. Hospital nursing unit donate supplies that could possibly discarded into Global Links collection bins and funnel them to those in need. They are dedicated individuals that lead volunteers such as myself by overseeing our work as we sort and pack badly needed supplies. Global Links supports sustainability in all aspects of their work.

Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to speak up for the excellent work of this fine organization.

Janette R. Curran RN BSHCA

This organization provides such crucial services with great efficiency and focus. It leverages a set of relatively small resources (donated equipment and supplies, money and volunteer support) into huge, even life-saving, improvements to healthcare provided in developing countries. In fact, it goes one step further and has an environmental benefit by taking waste in this country and turning it into resources for another country.

Global links works on both sides of the problem: taking surplus equipment off the hands of the hospital systems and finding a need for it in the developing world. It does this on a shoestring budget with a dedicated and highly competent staff. I have worked with them as a donor, volunteer and beneficiary for my surgical international work in Haiti, Guyana, and Honduras. We have been able to provide care with their help.

The most important reason Global Links deserves this award is that they do an on-site analysis of needs and capabilities. For example, in Haiti they donate beds and chairs, rather than the high tech equipment which requires reliable electricity and service. They know the hospitals and personnel they are donating to. In Cuba, they can donate a mammography center because the clinical resources including personnel can support it.

When I was in Honduras, I saw the opposite too many times. A CT scanner left outside in the courtyard because the donor did not understand that it could not be used. Global Links works from a careful needs assessment to avoid these problems.

Global links collects technically expired, but not obsolete, medical supplies from hospitals and medical providers, and redistributes/donates them to global recipients in need. It is a crucial service that not only provides vital and life-saving supplies to countries and medical providers worldwide, but it also prevents the unnecessary filling of landfills with products which are still usable. The organizers are passionate and dedicated to the purpose and welcome volunteers in an organized and meaningful way.

As a member of the University of Pittsburgh Hillman Cancer Center Research team, we often have extra supplies from studies that are closed or non-expired items in study kits that have an expiration date on the study boxes. Most of these items are lab supplies, syringes, slides, collection tubes, shipping boxes and the like.
To add these items to a land fill would be a crime, especially with the current global medical needs. My supervisors, being community minded as well as enviornmentally friendly, agreed to allow me to seek out an organization that would accept these items. Global Links was the answer to my prayers. Not only have they been extremely helpful in teaching me what items can be donated, but they are physically helpful when I arrive with a car load of boxes!
Thanks to the Global Links organization as well as the staff for being such a large part of the pro-active work to assist the less fortunate while keeping our planet less cluttered with unwanted supplies.

Global links is TRULY a global non-profit, bring medical supplies to foreign countries that would only be thrown away here because they are the old models, and have been replaced. At this time in history, I believe this is a great need. We are defending many nations fights for freedom, and casualties are inevitable. Medical supplies from GLOBAL LINKS would be more than necessary - that would be critical!

Great place to volunteer. It's a green way to help the environment and also to help struggling 3rd World hospitals.

Hayley from Global Links has been great to work with. I am the coordinator of the green team at St. Clair Hospital and have worked with her for a few years. We have an active donation program where we are able to donate old medical equipment, supplies, etc.... It is great to see an organization recycle and reuse medical supplies and equipment and to improve health outcomes in other countries.

I have led a nursing student community health experience in Managua, Nicaragua for the past 15 years and have directly witnessed what Global Links has done in Nicaragua. In addition to giving me small, portable health care supplies which are able to be independently transported in luggage, I have seen the difference that larger Global Links donations have made. During each of these 15 years, I have taken students to tour the Berta Calderon Women's Hospital, the national reference hospital and a recipient of significant donations from Global Links. I have directly observed the improvements in the quantity and quality of the equipment and the effect that it has had on the work of the staff in the labor and delivery area and the comfort of the patients and the care that they receive as a result.

Global Links helps in so many different ways: their donations of medical equipment and supplies directly affect and improve the lives of people throughout Latin America and the Caribbean; these donated materials would have otherwise been sent to landfills here in the US. The hospitals, doctors, and equipment manufacturers and distributors in the US benefit by knowing that they have an impact on improving the quality of life in other countries and reducing waste at home. The organization is run by incredible people who are committed to the mission -- you can be sure that your donations to Global Links will be put to good use!

This charity does fantastic work in terms of recycling surplus medical supplies that would otherwise go into landfills. But it does SO MUCH MORE! Using volunteers, it sorts and organizes these materials and matches them with the needs of specific hospitals in the world's poorest countries, shipping them off to save lives there.

I am proud to be a volunteer and donor of Global Links.

Gathering medical supplies and packing them in to boxes; how mundane. But every box I helped to pack served in two significant ways:
First, these were items that were discarded. They would have gone to a landfill further scarring our landscape.
Second, these supplies would SAVE LIVES of patients in desperate need in the very poorest countries in the world. Instead of being stitched up with fishing line or even cotton thread, patients would receive appropriate suture, considerably improving their chances of a good outcome. And studies show clearly that when family members survive there is less inclination to have larger families.

I think this is a wonderful organization. I love the fact that so much is recycled and your organization really treats the WORLD population as one big family, which indeed we are.
My daughter volunteered at Global Links and absolutely loved the experience.

IN 2004 I DONATED MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FROM MY LATE HUSBAND'S OFFICE WHICH WENT TO CUBA-TO A NEPHROLOGY INSTUTUTE IN HAVANA (AS I RECALL).
MY FATHER WAS BORN AND RAISED IN CUBA, OF QUAKER MISSIONARY PARENTS; IT WAS REWARDING TO ME TO KNOW THAT THIS DONATION WILL BE HELPFUL TO THAT COUNTRY. I ALSO KNEW THAT IT HONORED MY HUSBAND'S MEMORY.

Not many times you are blessed with opportunities to help out. In working with High School students you get to see the best side of teenagers. Here at Fox Chapel High School, we have established a Spanish Club that has gone strong for over 10 years. The students in the club have made the focus of our efforts to help children in Uruguay (my country of origin). It is effortless for me to be passionate about this cause but this idea would not have had the impact it had if it had not been for the patience and humbleness of Global Links. Global Links is no longer for me a Pittsburgh based organization (my hometown since 1992) that makes us proud. To me it is the group of caring and understanding (needless to say, bilingual) people led by Kathy whom I met personally a couple of years ago when she helped load a 10 foot container of medical supplies. Destination: small town's only hospital in Trinidad, Uruguay.
Despite many ups and downs GL worked around difficulties and differences and helped me make this happen. Everybody benefited but the most valuable lesson I hope was learned by our students at FC. Thanks Global Links. Myriam Fontes (Spanish Teacher and Spanish Club Sponsor at Fox Chapel High School, Pittsburgh PA)

I am an occasional donor to global links through my job as a medical supply sales rep. Global Links is a great conduit to get medical surplus to countries where it can be used to save lives and improve the health of the inhabitants. Their relationships with local hospitals and physican offices gives them access to products that these places would otherwise throw away. Global Links provides a valuable service to the local and international community.

Global Links lives up to its name: it links vital supplies to hospitals in need in Latin America and the Caribbean that come from hospitals in the USA that would otherwise simply throw them away. In the process, Global Links very consciously contributes to the greening of our US hospitals and clinics!
As a person who has donated to Global Links, I do so because they also work with nearly 2,000 volunteers annually, and not only use their skills and hours, but also educate them about global health and the environment.
Finally, Global Links cooperates fully with its partner hospitals, other non-profits, and the Pan American Health Organization. Bravo!

Global Links does a wonderful job of recycling perfectly usable medical equipment that is too often discarded in favor of newer technology. They enforce high self-imposed standards that require them to only distribute equipment and supplies that can be serviced for future repair needs and that have not exceeded an expiration date. Many items that have been donated rather than discarded only need new wheels, simple cleaning and paint. These minor repairs restore the equipment, prevent inexcusible waste and facilitate patient care in distant lands. Other items need to be grouped together based on the medical application.

I have worked with Global Links to assist them with relief efforts for Haiti. They are very professional and responsive and the experience with them has shown them to be attentive stewards of the financial and product support they receive.
Jock Menzies, president, The American Logistics Aid Network

I am a Board Member for Global Links and also a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School for Public and International Affairs. Part of the course work for my master's program focuses on accountability in responsible public leadership. Global Links exemplifies this principle, in the process they use to donate medical supplies to Latin American hospitals. The Global Links program officers work with their Latin American counterparts to ensure that the Latin American hospitals only receive medical supplies that they can use. By doing this, the organization responsibly ensures that the supplies sent will be used by the hospitals in need, and not discarded in Latin American landfills.

I have been volunteering at Global Links for several years. The staff has consistently been friendly, organized and enthusiastic about their wrok. The volunteer contributions are appreciated and necessary for this program to succeed. I will continue to support GLobal Links with my time and work.

I can't say enough great things about this organization. They really touch on something that is SO hard to do-- hold tight to strict ecological values while simultaneously ensuring proper healthcare to the underserved. This organization is all about sharing, reusing, conserving and goodwill. I've NEVER had a bad experience with Global Links.

I have been involved with Global Links for over 20 years. I have seen the organization grow from a dream to be one of the best run nonprofits. Its duel mission - to reduce medical surplus in the United States and put that surplus to productive use in developing countries - was unique. Now, although there are others in the field, the attention to detail is what separates Global Links. Every recipient's particular needs are carefully considered and fulfilled with useful surplus. If a particular piece of equipment, for example, requires electricity and the recipient clinic is in an area with repeated outages, Global Links will find generators or try to find backups that can be useful when there is no electricity. The people who work with Global Links are literally infected with joy in the job, hope for a better future and caring for their community.

I was initially attracted to Global Links through their work in the Dominican Republic. About four years ago, I joined the staff of Global Links but had to resign because of a family illness. Later I was invited to join the board and have served in that capacity for three years. So I have an intimate knowledge of the organization from three different perspectives. Some unique strengths i see in Global Links are: a visionary executive director, a dedicated and talented staff, a clear mission, an efficient use of time and resources, and strong relationships with host countries. These are but a few of the reasons that Global Links is able to exceed its goals every year.

Each year, healthcare facilities in the U.S. discard 2,000 tons of usable medical supplies. Global Links recognized the value of this material for developing countries that are struggling with the problem of providing healthcare for its citizens. Too often, clinics in developing countries simply do not have the necessary medical supplies to respond to the needs of their patients. Global Links salvages medical supplies and equipment that normally would be discarded in landfills. These materials are sorted, packaged and shipped to developing countries primarily in Central and South America. I am impressed by the dedication of the staff and volunteers connected with Global Links in carrying out the mission of the organization. It's a non-profit that should be recognized not only for its environmental stewardship, but also for its impact on the quality of life for people in developing countries.

Global Links is a nonprofit in Pittsburgh, PA that has turned recycling to an art form!

I have been aware of the organization for more than 10 years and am personally aware of the work they do in Latin American countries to refurbish durable medical supplies and equipment to countries most in need.

Global Links staff assisted our organization in figuring out how to donate unused, unexpired HIV medications to the province of Matanzas, Republic of Cuba. Pittsburgh has a sister city relationship with Matanzas.

Because the rate of HIV/AIDS is so low in Cuba, our small organization was able to make an impact on the men and women living with HIV in Mantanzas and Global Links provided great guidance.

They are my favorite nonprofit and are willing to talk to hospitals around the world to provide assistance even if the hospitals are not in countries they they currently serve.

We teamed up with Global Links almost 3 years ago to be a collection site for our area, Washington PA. We also decided to do an extra colleciton with Global Links for Haiti Relief, which had great response by customers and members of the community that called/stopped daily bringing crutches, walkers, canes - some with MULTIPLE items, some came to both collections! By partnering with Global Links, we brought awareness of global Issues to our local community and knowledge of Global Links' goal to environment responsibility and are proud to continue this relationship annually.

Global Links is one of the best run and most respected nonprofits in our region. By reburbishing used medical equipment, it both improves medical care in the developing world and protects our environment locally by recycling this equipment and keeping it out of landfills. I'm proud to be a part of this organization.

As a board member, I was initially attracted to global links because of its unique mission of addressing the healthcare needs of providers in developing countries through environmental stewardship here in the United States. Now seventeen years later, I continue to be engaged in global links' efforts because of the organization’s incredible progress in building the capacity of hospitals and clinics in Latin America and the Caribbean through evermore efficient and effective recovery and recycling of surplus medical supplies and equipment.

I've both volunteered and been a donor to Global Links for many years. The organization's mission is to recycle medical equipment and supplies that would otherwise be discarded by US hospitals, but which provide life saving supplies to clinics and hospitals in some of the poorest regions of Central and South America. And they do all this with a skeleton staff, of incredibly dedicated, hardworking, and knowlegeable people, and many volunteers like me who sort and pack the donated material.

since I am a Franciscan associate, with an option for the poor, I was very happy to work at Global Links helping the poor worldwide

Global Links has been impressive by their vigorous attempts to recycle many of the hospital materials that have been, traditionally, thrown away. The main emphasis has been in the use or sutures from the OR. In the past, once the initial outer wrapping is removed on suture material, if it has not been used, it was thrown away. However the 2nd cover keeps the suture still sterile. Consequenty, it can be used easily in the third world medical community where sterile suture material can be hard to obtain. Global Links now has several of the hospitals in the Pittsburgh area well attuned to the need to recycle their materials. They are even encouraging donations of more durable OR materials that are no longer being used. Consequently several ORs in centra American countries and in Cuba have helped immeasurably by the donations provided by Global Links. I personally have been able to make use of the sutures and surgical equipment on mission trips to Niger.

My experience with Global Links is limited (donating crutches and one day volunteering sorting and packing). But this place is amazing from the incredibly dedicated staff to the enormous volume of medical supplies recycled. I've worked for years in hospitals as an imaging technologist and am constantly depressed about the amount of waste that is generated. Global Links serves such a vital role in channelling
our unwanted medical supplies to poorer countries.

I was visiting Pittsburgh for a week and wanted to find a way to get involved in some volunteer work that makes the city so great. I found Global Links, and ended up spending a large amount of time there. It was easy to see the amazing vision that has resulted in a truly world-changing nonprofit, and my passion for it has not lessened since returning home. It was easy to jump in and help, which I loved, and I think that's one reason it's such a strong organization.

I enjoy volunteering with Global Links so much that I have bugged them about what all of their volunteer opportunities are. They have openings all the time for anyone to volunteer. I tend to volunteer twice a month. They do evenings and weekends to fit in people who work day jobs. The staff is wonderful; always open to suggestions and ideas on how to make things work better. Everyone is super nice and very comfortable and friendly to be around. They are also environmentally friendly, there are a plethora of recycling options at the office and the whole organization is a recycling shop. They take medical supplies that local hospitals/medical providers were going to throw away and send them to people in need.

All of my experiences at Global Links have been fantastic. The staff is always friendly and accommodating. Before volunteering they gave my group an introduction to their nonprofit and the populations they serve. They were tireless answering all of our questions and were so forthcoming with information that I felt very exited to be helping out. Global Links gave me the best experience I have ever had cleaning crutches for children!

I still remember the day when Global Links got its name. I was there.
Many years ago three intelligent women got together and started this organization without money but with vision and great dedication. They wanted to help people who where ill and had no resources. For many years now the organization still does that. They find things that nobody will use here anymore and send them to those who needs them.
Global Links is a very special organization. Every time I come to Pittsburgh and visit them I am amazed how many new projects had been accomplished and how hard they work.

Since being on the Board, Global Links has shipped around 80 containers of medical supplies (all re-claimed from healthcare facilities here) to 9 Latin American & Caribbean countries, keeping our environment clean and saving lives at the same time! This is the best charity I've had the honor of being involved with.

I work in a hospital that recycles unused equipment and new medical supplies that we no longer use through Global Links. It is amazing to see the products acculmulate that in the past would have been disposed of but are now used in underdeveloped countries. Global Links presence in our organization has raised awareness for recycling in the broadest sense and the follow-up by their representatives continues to reinforce our diligence.

Global Links has continually donated much needed supplies for the community projects of Building New Hope (also a Pittsburgh-based NGO)
that is at work in Nicaragua. THeir donations help to serve individuals in need, small clinics, and an animal health care center. They do so willingly and with an "eye" for our needs --- often contributing very useful material that we are not aware of but indeed useful.

Because of GLobal Links we are able to manage our small budget that is kept afloat by indiviudal donations. We serve countless more people in need that we ever expected.

DOnna Tabor, Project Coordinator
Building New Hope
Granada, Nicaraga

I volunteered with Global Links a few months ago and it has forever left a lasting impression on me... Their goal is to collect and distribute surplus medical supplies to countries in need. Just walking into their facility and seeing the amount of some of the simplest materials was overwhelming... how much we waste!

Before starting our work, we were shown a wonderful video presentation on the purpose of their mission, how the supplies are collected, where they are distributed, and how and by whom they are used. This was fantastic because it really drove it home for me and made me feel like this volunteer work really had a purpose... and I knew because I could "see" the benefits. We then worked to sort through bins of the items and determine what was still usable, etc.

Quite simply, this organization SAVES LIVES.... it deserves national attention and support from around the globe. If everyone took the initiative to follow in Global Links footsteps and conserve their surplus supplies and put them to a good use, imagine the possibilities!!!! :-)

I found out about Globel Links thru NAPO. We collected items from the public to donate. That experience has stayed with me and I let everyone I know about their great work. It is awesome to know that they take the time and effort to help people that are in such great need. They have come up with creative ways to recycle that inspire not only adults but children as well. As a parent it gives me great hope knowing there are people willing to take the time to come up with solutions to what other wise would be wasted.

I have been affiliated with the Schweitzer Hospital in Haiti for over 20 years as a physician. during much of that time we have had the good fortune of having a relationship with Global Links in Pittsburgh Pa. The organization has provided us with vital supplies including sutures and other essential equipment. They are well organized, efficient and always send durable functioning equipment which can immediately be put to use.

I became aware of Global Links when I did a search for where to donate used crutches. There page was very informative. At the time, they were accepting used medical equipment to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The donation center was easy to find + the staff was friendly. It is wonderful what they do to help others by reusing and transporting supplies that would just be discarded.

Working for a major Level I trauma hospital center in an urban setting (also non-profit), everyone working in the facility is extremely busy. Even though all who work here are very busy, helping those who are underserved is extremely important as well - even if they are not walking through our doors. Partnering with Global Links was a way to help those in need outside our doors. Global Links made it so easy for our organization to donate items no longer used by our facility to organizations that could put them to good use. They are a no muss, no fuss organization which is exactly what a busy Level I trauma hospital needs!

Untold numbers of people die, every year, for lack of sanitary supplies that clog American landfills! Global Links takes those things (that would otherwise be thrown away) and matches them with health centers in other countries that desperately need them. It's a DOUBLE benefit!

I've volunteered for a few years now as a member of PAPCA (Pittsburgh Area Peace Corps Association). We are a group of returned Peace Corps Volunteers.

Global Links is great! They solicit donations of medical equipment that is otherwise going to waste and send it to folks who need it. Much of the equipment goes to the Caribbean and Latin American area. This is particularly fitting for me as I served with PC in Costa Rica and was a trainer there and in Ecuador. It is a way to remain connected to the people in that area.

Global Links reduces, reuses and recycles. Reduces the waste by putting to use unused hospital supplies that would otherwise go to landfills. Reuses by collecting from the community at large items such as crutches, wheelchairs and home care supplies. Recycles--well, we are recycled Peace Corps Volunteers.

Additionally, in their parking lot Global Links maintains a dumpster for their own paper products. It is available to the entire community. They also made use of AmeriCorps volunteers and countless community volunteer groups like ours. They are so conscious of the value of volunteers that they designate times for individuals who not a part of any organized group to volunteer.

This tremendous non-profit, Global Links, operates out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My husband and I became aware of the organization many years ago, as we got to know someone central to its inception. We have watched the organization grow and develop over the years and marveled at their continued efficiency. Their work involved taking medical supplies and equipment that would normally be discarded in America, though still effective, and sharing them with the rest of the under-supplied world. This is a non-profit of great integrity, with a wonderful staff and volunteer force, intent on changing things, one hospital bed and antibiotic packet at a time.

Global Links has a very simple plan. They gather unused hospital equipment and supplies that would normally be discarded in America and send them to needy hospitals in Haiti and other countries. They do this at little cost. We volunteered with this group and the process was so simple. They utilized our time immediately and effectively. We left with a feeling of accomplishment and it was easy to see how much we helped. Their mission serves a double purpose. First, they help out these poor countries and in turn, help out the most needy patients. Secondly, they prevent the excess of our hospitals from ending up in our landfills. It was a very enjoyable experience and I would recommend this charity to anyone wanting to make a difference in our environment.

This program recycles medical supplies that would normally be discarded.
It helps 3rd world countries immensely.

A medical student friend was going to Malawi with her husband, and she was volunteering in a maternity hospital. She saw a huge need for very basic items. A group of us helped sort donated medical supplies at Global Links and Global Links sent life saving monitors and other supplies to the maternity hospital.

I have been volunteering at Global Links for four years packaging medical supplies for Third World countries. I volunteer with a group of women from the Junior League of Pittsburgh and we chose Global Links as the focal point for a group volunteer effort. The staff is extremely professional, organized and friendly effectively utilizing our time to benefit their organization as well as providing us with deep satisfaction for our efforts. Super Organization that does important work!!!

My wife and are both retired now, but for many many years we were involved with Global Kinks. We first became involved when Global Links were just beginning it was quite easy to see the commitment of the Principals in a totally unselfish manner. and staff to helping others. For many rears while we were representing the U.S. government in Nicaragua and when the health systems of the country was in totally shambles, Global Links came to the support. Global Links was spectacular.
In Nicaragua, my wife was responsible for improving the status of the hospitals and health delivery. Not one organization in the entire world made more of an impact than Global Links.
The philosophy of Global Links of taking perfectly good medical products and send them to the needy is truly what they do.
I know of no organization that utilizes a higher percentage of their income for real programs than Global Links.
My story has been replicated hundreds of times over.
Global Links is truly the very best organization that I have ever dealt with.
If Global LInks does not win this award it will truly be a travisty.
Dr. Richard White and Dr. Joanne White

I am pleased that Global Links is able to use refurbished materials and equipment in order to help others around the world. Their mission is inspiring.

Sharing Surplus. Saving Lives. No one should die for lack of what we throw away ! Their motto says a lot, but not all of it. Global Links does more than conserve the environment -- they save lives and sustain the environment as a by-product of what they do. This is because they do it intelligently; i.e., they collect the huge amounts of medical supplies and equipment that would otherwise end up in landfills and target these to specific programs that need and will use them, Therefore they will not end up in landfills in the recipient nations.

A thoughtful, humanitarian Mission, carried out by committed, dedicated staff applying their principles in intelligent and consistent ways to do the most good. They fill a need and deserve recognition and support.

It is a real privilege for me to volunteer at Global Links and be a small part of such a great organization. Following are just a few reasons why I think Global Links is so special: It has a small core of very dedicated staff members. All aspects of its work are extremely well organized and efficient without any waste with an absolute minimum outlay for administrative costs. The office and warehouse are housed in no-frills, bare bone buildings. Executive Director, Kathleen Hower, who co-founded the organization more than 20 years age was a visionary, and, with her quiet strength, still guides and sets the tone for Global Links today.

Each Wednesday afternoon, as I leave the Global Links office, I can hardly wait to return the next week.

Global Links is absolutely amazing. When you volunteer your time with this organization, you know that you are truly making an impact. Any item that can be helpful to another individual is sent, no matter how small or seemingly unimportant. Looking at the specific needs of medical institutions in other countries, Global Links makes sure that no supplies go to waste. This is the most wonderful place that any individual could hope to volunteer their time and efforts!

I am a volunteer on Friday mornings, a regular non afiliated, not associated group of individuals who sort and batch several medical supplies together.
I simply love Global Links concept: the fact that it was created in Pittsburgh by three women makes it even more real and inspiring.
The whole waste in medical supplies for reasons hidden behind safety or otherwise wasteful quality consumer standards, and its channeling through Global Links to South America and other at risk or short supplied areas is simply efficient and ethical.
We are under supervision of highly trained staff, who are very efficient, personable and excel in time efficiency for our efforts and energy. Every Friday I leave my volunteer assignment at 12pm, feeling richer and emerged in a sense of great self-accomplishment. I highly recommend this Organization for any award that might increase its visibility and expand its work. Also, they are very careful in recruiting volunteers, they are extremely ethical, giving a tour to all and presenting the founders and staff, who are are always friendly, although very focused.

I feel very happy when I realize that the smallest of effort I put in volunteering at Global Links helps to save Lives of people in underdeveloped nations. It's a truly amazing organization!

I find Globallinks to be the perfect organization to give my time to. When people get stressed at work about getting a job done, I like to remind them that "we're not savin' babies here." Volunteering at Globallinks, we really ARE. And the waste of perfectly good things makes me bonkers--Globallinks saves babies with stuff that would otherwise go to waste. It doesn't get any more perfect than that.

The organization is experienced at handling volunteers efficiently. When we arrive, there is already a task set up for us, the supplies are ready, the signage is up-to-date, and the staff person working that night understands what needs to be done and can explain it well (and patiently). This helps me feel like I'm actually accomplishing something, not just standing around waiting.

This will be my biggest donation since I`ve pledged to donate 20% of any monetary income several months ago. I wish it could be more, but I`m only a rising college freshman. My money does far more in your hands than in mine. Your organization practically satisfies all of my main concerns: relieving suffering, conserving resources, and a CEO who works for the people, not the money. I wish you the best of luck in your efforts!

I have visited two of our program countries with executive staff to inspect the materials that we sent, and was most imprsssed with the comments of gratitude and admiration for Global Links. I heard great affirmations that we sent only useful materials, and were careful to determine what they really needed. I have attended many events to meet potential donors and personnel with collaborating organizations and have made many valuable contacts for Global Links. In so doing, I was delighted to discover how well our organization is regarded in many circles. I have gotten to know the staff and am very impressed with their idealism and their willingness to do labor--intensive processes in order to ensure that we are sending only usable materials, in the most efficient and effective ways.

My experience with the institution has been excelent - exemplary professionalism coupled with a dynamic performance. Their pre- and post evaluation helps to establish a positive collaboration that leads to a positive donation. I truly appreciate their support of our projects, particularly during the the critical moments of the program development.

Global Links is a leading example of environmental sustainability and accountability, because they develop ongoing relationships with health care facilities in specific countries that can utilize the surplus medical supplies from Pittsburgh area hospitals. Foreign Institutions receive 40-foot sea containers of medical aid carefully selected to meet their specific needs. By developing relationships with specific institutions or regions of a country, Global Links makes a sustained impact on the ability of recipient institutions to deliver health care to their patients. They foster international partnerships to promote environmental sustainability and redirect medical surplus to supply developing countries with medical supplies that would otherwise be sent to a land fill. From the organization’s mission of redirecting medical surplus to the recycling receptacles in the staff and volunteer eating areas, this organization is the definition of a non-profit that promotes environmental sustainability. The Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership at the University of Pittsburgh recently gave Kathleen Hower – co-founder and Executive Director of Global Links, the Exemplary Leadership Award. Each year, the Johnson Institute selects an outstanding community leader who demonstrates values of ethics and accountability in their service to the public to receive this award. I am graduate student studying international and public affairs and am participating in the Johnson Institute Leadership Portfolio program. I am serving on the board of Global Links as a part of this learning opportunity. It has been an honor to be invited to participate with this extraordinary organization, because they are an international example of what a non-profit organization should be.

I sought to become actively involved with the organization after learning of their incredible mission, both from a humanitarian and environmental perspective, and coming to know their tireless leadership. I have been involved with small nonprofits and have never seen one accomplish so much with so little. The organization strives to maximize resources in every aspect of their operation, with only ~3% of donations contributing to administrative efforts – an incredible feat for any nonprofit. This has been accomplished through the vision of the organizations leadership, the growth and nurturing of a dedicated volunteer organization and the forming of strategic alliances. These alliances, both local and international, have enabled the organization to save thousands of tons of usable, life-saving surplus and redirected it to countries based on specific needs. This organization is responsible in every aspect of their existence and I am thrilled to be a part of working with this team to expand their ability to responsibly impact more lives.

My husband, son and I were looking for a way to participate in the Haiti earthquake relief efforts, and we found our way to Global Links, where we spent an afternoon packing medical supplies. This organization has the most wonderful mission...providing aid to those in need while caring for the environment by recycling supplies that would have been otherwise thrown in landfills. They do a fantastic job!

Global Links can best be described as a no-frills, extremely well organized non-profit that is run by a small core of very dedicated staff. It successfully achieves its commitment to collect and distribute surplus medical material to less developed countries without any waste and with an absolute minimum outlay for administrative costs. The Executive Director, Kathleen Hower, who co-founded the organization 20 years ago was a visionary, and with her quiet strength, still guides and sets the tone for Global Links today. It is a real privilege for me, through my volunteer sorting and packing, to be a very small part of such a great organization.

I like the idea of not wasting the excess supplies and equipment produced by the medical industry. Global Links is a great idea.

Global links is so great, they really help me to send to my grandmother who is 85 years old, and life in Venezuela to have some medical supplies, on Friday I did email Angela Garcia, buy Monday everything was ready to pick up, Angela,Marisol, and Jennifer, and everybody there are so wonderful they really made an impact in people's live. We are so grateful to have Global Links, and all the wonderful Humans beings to work there. Muchas Gracias, Norma Arbujas

Volunteering for Global Links is one of the most important items on my weekly to-do list. I very much enjoy the company of the other volunteers, the knowledgeable and friendly team and most importantly the mission we are on and supporting.

Volunteers are given opportunity to own the process of re-packing medical supplies, making decisions about how to pack, with supervision, working in small teams or on your own. Volunteer feels he has really made a difference in the world.

Global Links is an organization that fulfills many functions. First as a green organization, it keeps medical supplies out of land-fills. Secondly it supplies much needed medical equipment to countries where the need is so great and most importantly makes sure the materials are both useful and will be used by the peoples Global Links has targeted as most needy. In my menial role as a sorter, counter and packer of supplies; I feel the profound impact my volunteering is having on peoples in remote areas of developing countries of this hemisphere.

I chose this organization with care because of their specific work and because of their reputation. I fulfilled my orientation, which I find very necessary, and was very impressed with my first day of volunteering. I now just look forward to my next day to volunteer.

Global Links could be one of the finest examples of how a nonprofit should operate. Everything -materials,manpower,and money is utilized to its fullest extent. Global Links reduces the environmental impact of our U.S. hospitals and provides much needed and site-specific medical supplies to their partner countries. The director of Global Links,Kathleen Hower, is intelligent,diligent, and forward thinking. The same can be said of her energetic staff and board. All the volunteers are kept quite busy and are valued for the role they play in sorting and packing medical supplies. The budget is carefully considered and all money is spent wisely and never frivolously. Although I have volunteered at Global Links for many years, I have to say that I continue to be amazed and feel great joy when I step into the Penn Ave. office or the warehouse. It is heartwarming to be part of this well run organization knowing that the Global Links mission is succeeding and impacting so many lives. Please come and be a part of what Global Links is doing! If you can, please donate your time, your talents, an/or your money. You'll be glad you did.

When the Haiti earthquake struck, I heard about a need for volunteers for Global Links. I was told they recycle medical equipment to the Caribbean. I thought this would be a way I could immediately respond to the Haitian crisis. I was overwhelmed by the type of work and recycling they do. For Haiti, I have cleaned and restored crutches (lots of crutches) and wheelchairs. I have packed orthopedic braces, syringes and other items that typically would have been wasted by American hospitals. Global Links connects to area hospitals and gleans unwanted medical equipment for use in another part of the globe. Work still continues for Haiti and will for some time. I have become a regular volunteer along with my husband. We are amazed at what we will pack each time we show up. From sharps containers to biohazard bags, Global Links is reusing and providing needed medical supplies and equipment to countries in need.

I have volunteered with Global Links about eight times now. I continue to be impressed with their mission to recycle hospital materials (from unused syringes to used hospital beds, from sterile unused needles to ultrasound machines...). We spend our time sorting everything by date, by size, or by whatever parameters the coordinators offer us. We work solidly for two hours, until we have sorted, counted, grouped and boxed thousands upon thousands of instruments, tubing, etc. This non-profit organization is helping third world countries have the medical equipment and supplies that they need to work under horrendous conditions. I am proud to work with them.

Global Links.is extremely well organized and safety minded. My job has been to separate and pack. The volunteers there are very explicit in what they want done, and very helpful. This is a wonderful organation.

I had no idea how many usable medical supplies and equipment are discarded every day by health providers. Bravo to Global Links who recycles supplies that do not bear an expiration date to hospitals and clinics in South and Central America. I believe Global Links provides the volunteer with an opportunity to act locally and think globally. This non-profit contributes in a significant way towards greater environmental sensitivity while providing a viable way to act responsibly.

I've had a few experiences with Global Links, one being a building project in the Yungas, in Bolivia. What I appreciate so much about this organization is their consistency, honesty, and integrity. So many organizations are partially honest and so on, or sort of, but my experiences with Global Links has been positive across the board with no regrets about working with them. I appreciate the efforts they go to for getting what seems to us to be the very simplest things to people who desperately need simple things and otherwise would never get them.

The Wanless Hospital, Miraj Medical Center was founded in 1894 in the small town of Miraj, Maharashtra, in southwestern India by Sir, Dr. William Wanless, (1865 to 1933) a missionary physician of the American Presbyterian Church and has served the people of this area for over one hundred years. Today, Wanless Hospital is the most fully equipped referral center for an area of 50,000 square miles with a population of 20 million. It is a multi-specialty Charitable Hospital and has provided low cost care to the very poor and underprivileged sections of society who have no hope of receiving treatment from any other center in India. The Miraj Heart Institute at the Wanless Hospital is a Tertiary referral Centre for Congenital & Acquired Cardiac diseases as well as Thoracic & Vascular problems, both Elective as also Emergent, catering to the needs of patients from the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa. The Miraj Heart Institute is committed to provide COMPREHENSIVE CARDIAC CARE WITH COMPASSION AND CHARITY and present an effective Witness through its Advanced Cardiac Care to the poor and un-affording class of patients. We treat almost the whole spectrum of Congenital and Acquired Heart Diseases as well as perform Thoracic and Vascular Surgery. Cases are as widely ranging as a few days old baby taken up for a Blalock Tausig’s Shunt to a 70 year old person undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery. The cost of Cardiac Surgery in India is very high (over $5,000 per patient) and such facilities are available at private Corporate Hospitals, which are affordable only to the upper middle and rich classes. The Miraj Heart Institute provides subsidized Cardiac surgical care, (about $2,500 per patient) with a very high level of professional skill and a compassionate Christian approach. This has been made possible by the generous help that we continue to receive in the form of Funds, Equipment and Disposables from various organizations. The cost of disposable items constitutes a major part of the expenditure on Cardiac surgery. Cardiac suture is a very important and fairly costly ingredient of the operation. Furthermore good quality suture is imperative for an optimal surgical result. Our average cost of suture per Open Heart Surgery varies from $250 to $500 depending on the type of surgery. Global Links, USA (www.globallinks.org) a charitable organization have been kind enough to donate us Cardiac surgical suture. Global Links has been helping my program since 2007 by regularly donating these expensive Cardiac sutures. These ongoing donations of valuable sutures from Global Links for the past 3 years have substantially helped to keep our operative costs low. Our average cost of suture per Open Heart Surgery varies from $300 to $500; depending on the type of surgery. Till date I have used these sutures supplied by Global Links in over 100 Open Heart surgeries and have been able to cut down my operating costs by at least $200 per patient. It is because of such continued support that we are able to run our program and care for the un-affording sections of patients in this part of our country. Beyond doubt as always the loving hand of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ was at work and we all thank and praise Him for the great Humanitarian work that Global Links continues to do for the poor and needy. It is said that ‘A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE’. But our experience in working with Global Links is such that ‘A STITCH SENT IN TIME SAVES A LIFE.’ Truly Global Links have made this priceless difference between Life and Death so very true for so many of our patients. We the staff of the Miraj Heart Institute, Wanless Hospital and all our patients are grateful to Global Links, USA for this enormous and ongoing donation of costly Cardiac suture material. We shall forever remain extremely indebted to Global Links and all their staff for their continued, kind and compassionate help offered to our Institution.

Glboa Links has provided sutures to mission hospitals where I have worked for over fifteen years. Communication and cooperation is excellent. They always provide what you ask for if at all possible, and let us know what else is available in case we might be able to use it. The best thing about Global Links is that they do not send junk to Africa.

As an occassional volunteer with this organization, I am constantly amazed at their methods to keep their work relevent, up-to-date and responsive to their recipients needs. The last thing anyone in need needs is something they don't need. I've always been impressed with how global links listens and meets REAL needs in an efficient and timely manner. Their network with donors around our city is unprecedented and groundbreaking.

Although many organizations often state how much they need volunteers, my experience in answering the call is often that they are so disorganized that the time I spent trying to volunteer was not at all effective. Not so at Global Links! This is one efficient, organized group of folks that makes great use of every volunteer for every minute that they are there. Their packing system is so streamlined that as an individual or small group we were consistently able to prepare a significant volume of medical supplies in a short time. It was really a good feeling to know we made a difference in the health care of many people and promoted international good will as well as diverted perfectly good equipment from a landfill. And it's fun! What a great bunch of people to work with.

I enjoy volunteering in my community quite a bit, so I have some experience being a volunteer. My experience with Global Links has been nothing short of wonderful. The staff is always very well organized, clear and concise with their directions, and welcoming. The tasks are never very difficult, but you still feel as if you are making a huge impact. The Global Links family is very inclusive - always keeping volunteers in the loop with newsletters, special bulletins, emails, and invitations to functions and parties. It is by far my favorite organization with which to volunteer.

This organization was outstanding in terms of recognizing our need and fulfilling our request for supplies for relief medical work in Haiti. I called them threee days before my departure and they had packaged supplies ready to go the day before I left! Very valuable service!

Quic sevice as I headed out the door to Haiti - helpful and friendly. Well stocked with useful supplies. Wish I would have had enough time to get medicines which takes a bit longer or that could have been as quick as the supplies.

I actually heard about Global Links years ago, but it wasn't until this past September that I finally got around to contacting them. Since then I've been volunteering 8-10 hours per month, on average, and I've come to look forward to the hours I get to spend working with them. They're wonderful people to work with, and they have great taste in music. Much more important, of course, is what they do. It's so clearly a benefit to everyone on the planet, from the hospital personnel and businesspeople who would rather not have to dump something still useful into a landfill, to the people like me who get to (carefully) handle fancy medical gadgetry we've not even imagined before, to those people whom I will never meet but whose lives I have in this way touched as a result of what the Global Links staff has made possible. It's like sending a post card to a friend you don't know. My thanks to Global Links, who have truly made this a better world.

Ever since I was a gradute student at the University of Pittsburgh in a program called, "International Development Education Program, or IDEP" in the 1980's, I have wanted to go to the underdeveloped countried I was studying, but I never go to go. So when my daughter told me about Global Links and how they help to send medical and hospital supplies to those same countries that I had wished to travel to, I jumped at the chance to volunteer to sort, pack, and send these supplies to people who need them. I am a retired woman who finds great satisfaction in volunteering for Global Links and who enjoys the company of a band of committed women and men who like doing things for others.

I am so proud to have an organization in Pittsburgh's back yard that touches so many parts of the world so profoundly. The humility of the Global Links organization coupled with its impact on the lives of the poor is such a strong reflection of Christ, that I believe His Spirit carries the organization. Their stewardship of all resources, dedication and effectivenss in continuing the mission despite impediments, and commitment to the "renewable" concept makes them the paragon environmental non-profit. Bravo Kathleen.

I've been volunteering weekly at Global Links for about a year and knew from my first visit that it was something I was really interested in. It's a win-win situation. We collect, sort and pack surplus medical supplies that would have been discarded by hospitals in the U.S. to send to hospitals in underdeveloped countries.

Global Links is unique in that it not only helps donors dispose of their "trash" responsibly, but it provides much needed medical equipment to underserved countries. "Green" is not just a slogan, but part of its mission.

I heard about Global Links through a friend of mine...and was mesmerized by the story of how the organization began and what it has become through the years! The idea of reconditioning and donating medical supplies that would have ended up in a landfill and send these supplies to developing countires was a not only a strike of genious--but taking that idea and making it a reality is nothing short of a miracle!! How many of us see things everyday tossed aside-and say--what a waste--there are people that would love to have this or that...and then to actually have that thought --and work out a plan to have this idea take effect and actually work to help other nations--is an awesome story in itself. It gives you hope that the smallest deed is better than the grandest intention! For a long time I contributed to this organization through United Way--I liked that they didn't have much over head and that my donation went to real help. This year I decided to volunteer --and I got to see what hard work and workers are out there everyday making this non profit a success. I cleaned and painted IV poles --and when you scrub in an empty dusty warehouse for 7 hours --you leave sore--but happy! It kind of gave me a glimpse of the satisfaction these workers have everyday. Knowing that what they do has such a profound effect on so many. The story of this organization and the tour of the facility--made me cry. I was so proud to be a part of this effort for that day! And to think --this effort doesn't just help those that need it most--but also helps the environment in the process--just an awesome ---AWESOME venture!!!! God Bless this organization -- the effort the workers put into this and the love--was so obvious. Never met a group so committed!

Global Links plays an important role, recovering still useful medical furnishings and equipment and unused medical supplies that cannot be used for one reason or another in the U.S., but that can help save lives and provide improved healthcare options patients throughout the world.

I was so impressed at the efficiency of Global Links when I came to volunteer for the first time. Their film tells a worthwhile story and their employee, Lindsey, was dedicated, informative ,organized and responded well to every question. Their mission is an easy goal for all of us to embrace: making the world a more healthy place to live and survive. We owe that to the under privileged citizens in so many countries. We have so much to give.

Global Links is doing amazing work both for the environment and for people in need around the world. I was astounded at the statistics that were shared with me- 9 billion dollars of unused medical supplies are thrown away every year! This organization is meeting needs and saving lives.

Having traveled and worked in developing countries for many years, I am acutely aware of how critical the type of medical aid given by Global Links is in these countries. Global Links has moved beyond simply supplying greatly needed equipment and supplies, to working with the Ministry of Health in many countries to fundamentally improve their delivery of health care. At its home base in Pittsburgh, Global Links not only carries out its basic functions of gathering and shipping medical supplies, but perhaps equally importantly they educate teenagers and others who serve as volunteers at Global Links in the vitally important issues of health in developing countries far removed from the U.S.. My three daughters’ early and long experience with Global Links has been a significant factor in leading all of them to work overseas, including one working in international public health. This highly effective use of volunteers by Global Links also makes them remarkably effective from a financial point of view, leveraging the dollars they receive in donations with the many hours of volunteer time. As a trustee of several family foundations, I consider Global Links to be one of the most effective charities I have contributed to over many years.

Global Links is at the top of my list of charities to which I make regular contributions, because I know they will put the money to good use helping people who really need it with little waste for administrative overhead. Their newsletter keeps me informed of their activities with capturing stories and pictures.

Global Links is one of the most efficient and well-run organizations I've come into contact with. The main focus of the organization is compassion and respect for the populations served. They are meticulous in achieving the dual mission of helping underpriveleged people while helping to preserve our planet.

It is fifteen years now that I have been experiencing the relief that Global Links brings to countries across the world who need help in the health sector. I have been particularly impressed by the care they take in donating equipment and supplies that will work in the receiving countries. Their focus and concern is for the health and well being of the people of the country they assist. They take the time to find out the needs of the receiving country and what works best there. Their donations are of the highest quality and durability. It is not so much what they do at Global Links, but how they do it …with respect, dignity and compassion. Blossom Laidlaw Volunteer – Health Sector -Jamaica

Global Links provides desperately needed medical supplies while also serving an environmental service. The staff is dedicated and the volunteers are wonderful, interesting and diverse people to meet and work with. I've volunteered there for over 4 years and always leave there feeling that I've contributed in a worthwhile way.

I think that volunteering at global links has been an amazingly eye opening experience. I never knew so many things would wind up in landfills if it were not for global links salvaging these items and sending them to others who could put them to good use, people who are so appreciative to receive them. To play a small part in this endeavor, has been very rewarding to me. The staff has been very imformative, answering all of my questions and keeping me informed on healthcare in the countries they service. They showed me that I could help them to acquire even more donations. These donations have helped improve and expand heathcare treatment for those who receive them by allowing them to provide care for those who would otherwise go untreated.

The people here are very friendly, and it is always a joy to know we are helping save lives all over the world.

What a great organization! Global Links' work is not only important to the countries they serve, but also to the environment. By keeping tons of still-useful supplies out of landfills, they truly provide a domestic service. Thanks for all you do!

We visited the Global links 'warehouse' and witnessed the work in progress. The staff worked to acquire donated supplies (sterile sutures, delivery beds, etc) from hospitals throughout the U.S., then used various methods to transport needed supplies to specific hospitals throughout the world, responding to requests from physicians and administrators at the sites. Newsletters include letters from recipients expressing gratitude and photos of Global Links supplies being used. Excellent feedback and communication with donors.

I have volunteered several times to help at Global Links and have also donated money. These folks run a dedicated non profit that succeeds in not just achieving their goal of recapturing value in surplus hospital supplies by shipping them to medical facilities in need, but also by mobilizing many volunteers. The opportunity to support their efforts by manually helping to clean, pack and ship the items allows them to be inclusive and expand beyond just a donor base. Global Links is a wonderful example of a sustainable non profit that meets their mission. Five stars!

I've had the privilege to volunteer for Global Links for the past 5 years. Having met Kathleen and her team of dedicated humanitarians gives me hope.

Global Links does it right - they understand the needs of the hospitals and clinics they serve, they take the time to educate themselves about each situation, they never make an inappropriate donation. Keeping these useful materials out of US landfills is an added bonus.

Global Links is a no-hassle, fast delivery, no nonsense, eager-to-help organization that has saved the day for our organization, Building New Hope, countless times. There are not many organizations that allow their clients to feel that WE are helping THEM! GLobal Links is genuinely pleased to be of service to those that we serve here in Nicaragua. THe individual Global Links volunteers have all gone 'the extra mile' to come through with every request that we have made of them. THere is comfort in knowing that they are always near us, with us, for us. GLobal Links suppies Building New Hope with medical/clinical supples for remote area health centers as well as a community animal spay neuter clinic in Nicaragua. THeir donations have allowed us to provide a constant stream of health care to this community because of their efficient donation system. Donna Tabor, Project Director Building New Hope Granada, Nicaragua