Brazos Valley nonprofit successfully sends medical supplies to Ukraine

NORTH ZULCH, Texas (KBTX) - Arriving in Kyiv, Ukraine this week are thousand of pounds of medical supplies courtesy of a North Zulch nonprofit.

The Arlene Campbell Humanitarian Foundation has helped connect Ukrainians with medical supplies for years.

“We’ve been in existence since 2016 but my mentor was doing this type of work since 1989,” said Lena Denman, President of Arlene Campbell Humanitarian Foundation

Even before the war, doctors at the Ukrainian Health Ministry’s Heart Institute in Kyiv had challenges sourcing essential medical supplies. The war has only made it worse, especially since the area they serve has been the site of mass atrocities. But now, two of three shipments of vital medical equipment and supplies have arrived in Kyiv.

Wound care and triages supplies, surgical kits and masks, examination gloves, mask respirators, hospital gowns, stethoscopes, sterile containers and basic medicine is now available for the hospital.

“We found a wonderful partner in the United Methodist Committee for Relief and they have given us a grant of a substantial sum of money and that allowed us to send three shipments over to Ukraine,” said Denman.

A grant from United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCORP), the UM global disaster relief agency, to the Arlene Campbell Humanitarian Foundation is covering the cost of shipping 47,895 pounds of medical supplies worth almost $1 million to the hospital in Kyiv.

“In all, we will have sent $935,000 worth of medical supplies and over 47,000 pounds and that wouldn’t have been possible without the partnership with UMCORP,” said Denman

“They’re being spread out among a number of facilities in the area just to try to make sure that they are available where they are needed during this atrocity,” said Mary Lou Greenwood Boice of the General Board of Global Ministries and The United Methodist Church.

Denman and her team are currently sorting more medical supplies and could use some volunteers.

“You don’t have to feel depressed that there is somebody encountering all kinds of horrific things internationally when you live in a country that has peace and prosperity. We can do something,” said Denman.

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