Donors Contributed More than 1,300 Home Health Items to St. Louis HELP Equipment Drive

ST. LOUIS - Oct. 10, 2016 - PRLog -- St. Louis HELP, the not-for-profit Health Equipment Lending Program (http://stlhelp.org/) that freely loans home medical equipment to any person who needs it, collected a total of 1,310 home health equipment items from 300 donors during its equipment donation drive on Saturday, October 8.

"We collected 14.97 tons of used home medical equipment that we will clean and revitalize for free loans to any person or caregiver for as long as they need the equipment," said Executive Director Laura Cannon Singer, who founded the nonprofit organization in 2008.

"This means we are diverting almost 15 tons from the solid waste stream by cleaning, reconditioning, recycling and loaning all of this donated equipment," she said.

"We express our deepest gratitude and thanks to all donors and our amazing volunteers for making this event such a big success – including 60 volunteers, board members and staff members who participated in this semi-annual event. Now we are busy cleaning and reconditioning the equipment at our warehouse in Olivette.

"We estimate that the cumulative value of the items we collected on October 8 to be $344,311. We turn that used equipment into an asset for the needy people we serve by revitalizing it and loaning it to them unconditionally."

Donors dropped off used home health equipment to St. Louis HELP at 14 Walgreen's parking lots in four metro area counties in St. Louis and southwestern Illinois.

Items donated included manual and power wheelchairs, electric hospital beds, shower chairs, canes, crutches, walkers, grab bars, elevated toilet seats, portable commodes, lift chairs, seating cushions, back supports, folding ramps and other devices, Singer said.

"Nothing goes to waste. Good parts of broken equipment that we collect are used to repair other equipment."

A one-minute public service video produced by HEC-TV that showcases St. Louis HELP activities can be viewed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxddQ6VJcxs.



St. Louis HELP is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that loans equipment to any person including those temporarily disabled by injury, illness or surgery; those awaiting insurance company approval; those whose own equipment is being repaired; visitors to St. Louis who can't transport their own equipment; and terminally ill persons.

The organization recently expanded its 5,000 square foot warehouse in Olivette by 2,000 square feet to accommodate increasing requests from people and families throughout metro St. Louis for free loans of revitalized home health equipment that the non-profit organization provides.

Call 314 567 4700 or see the website http://www.stlhelp.org. Media contact Jeff Dunlap at 314 409 5203.

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