Thanks to the 50+ Minnesota volunteers that helped prep, pack, and stuff more than 38,000 pounds of donated medical, school, and construction supplies for shipment to Bolivia over the weekend! Each container is a huge volunteer effort and costly to ship, but it is well worth it; for every dollar it costs to ship we can send about $20 worth of supplies. Everything we ship is distributed to Mano a Mano’s programs in Bolivia, and a portion is also distributed to other nonprofits, hospitals, and individual Bolivians free-of-charge.

In addition to everyone that helped pack the containers with supplies this weekend, a big thank-you to everyone that has volunteered at our office over the past 6 months – whether it is picking up supplies, sorting supplies, organizing crutches and walkers, or organizing the warehouse – every part is an essential part to make these shipments happen. Thank you!

Volunteers from MN-RPCV getting items ready to be loaded.

Volunteers from MN-RPCV getting items ready to be loaded.

Mano a Mano volunteers loading a pallet of supplies.

Mano a Mano volunteers loading a pallet of supplies.

Distribution Program Results

In late 2013, we surpassed our 10,000th distribution of supplies in Bolivia; we have shipped more than 3.5 million pounds of supplies from Minnesota to Bolivia since 1994 (here are some pictures of our most recent shipment arriving in Bolivia in December 2013).

1 of nearly 200 wheelchairs that were distributed to Bolivians with disabilities in December.

1 of nearly 200 wheelchairs that were distributed to Bolivians with disabilities in December.