Direct Relief International's Domestic Efforts Receive Funding Boost
June 11, 2008 (Santa Barbara, Calif.) Direct Relief International today received a gift of $75,000 to support its rapidly expanding program to assist low-income people without health insurance in obtaining prescription medicines.
Direct Relief’s program, launched in partnership with nonprofit clinics and community health centers and healthcare companies four years ago, has provided over $125 million worth of medicines to clinic and health center patients in all 50 states, including over 3.5 million prescriptions last year.
A private donor from Palo Alto, California, who wishes to remain anonymous, pledged the gift to support the expansion of the program.
Damon Taugher, Director of Direct Relief’s domestic initiatives, said, “We deeply appreciate this gift, which allows us to continue the important work of expanding access to needed medicines for working poor, uninsured people who are often caught in a terrible bind when they get sick or hurt. The safety net clinics and health centers see this situation every day, and they are critically important points of access for millions of people.”
Direct Relief has held a pharmacy wholesaler license in California for 45 years - rare among humanitarian medical aid organizations - and has obtained similar licenses in 46 states to enable the program’s expansion throughout the United States. Applications for licenses are pending in the four remaining states.
The program’s low-cost, highly leveraged model has been possible because of the participation of pharmaceutical companies, which donate medicines and supplies, and the in-kind support of FedEx, which last year made over 2,000 deliveries free of charge.
To learn more about Direct Relief’s innovative partnerships or to support this program, please visit DirectRelief.org.
About Direct Relief International
Founded in 1948, Direct Relief International is a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of life by bringing critically needed medicines and supplies to local healthcare providers worldwide. Direct Relief is one of two charities ranked by Forbes that has received a perfect fundraising efficiency score for five consecutive years and is ranked by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as California’s largest international nonprofit organization based on private support. For more information, please visit http://www.DirectRelief.org.
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