A little more than two years ago, I stumbled upon an amazing
organization in the Fargo, ND, area that collects and redistributes donated healthcare materials to benefit those in need.
HERO (Healthcare Equipment Recycling Organization) takes usable supplies that would have ended up in a landfill and recycles them by giving them to people who can use them.
HERO by the numbers in 2012:
- More than 156,000 usable medical equipment and supply items were saved from disposal in area landfills.
- A total of 33 different global mission teams received health-related items for distribution around the world. The teams traveled all over the world, including India, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Liberia, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines and Uganda. Since 1996, HERO supplies have served people in more than 50 countries.
- 4,600+ hours of community service were performed by 170 volunteers.
- Approximately 3,119 individuals and agencies in North Dakota, Minnesota and surrounding areas received medical items for little to no cost.
In July of this year, HERO received the GuideStar Exchange Gold level logo, a leading symbol of transparency and accountability, provided by
GuideStar USA, Inc. GuideStar’s mission is to “revolutionize philanthropy by providing information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions, and encourages charitable giving.”
GuideStar gathers and disseminates information about every IRS-registered nonprofit organization. It provides as much information as possible about each nonprofit’s mission, legitimacy, impact, reputation, finances, programs, transparency, governance and so on.
Receiving the Gold level logo shows HERO’s deep commitment to nonprofit transparency and accountability. As a GuideStar Exchange participant, HERO will be able to use its platform to share a wealth of up-to-date information about its work to its supporters and GuideStar’s large online audience of nonprofits, grantmakers, individual donors and the media.
To find out more about HERO, or to donate leftover supplies, visit herofargo.org.
