Volunteer Opportunities in July 2015
Interested in helping reduce waste in Minnesota while making a difference in thousands of Bolivians’ lives?
You are welcome to stop by Mano a Mano (925 Pierce Butler Route, St. Paul, MN 55104) to volunteer and help sort & pack donated surplus supplies at any of the following times this month, no RSVP needed:
- Monday, July 13, 9a-Noon
- Saturday, July 18, 9a-Noon
- Monday, July 20, 9a-Noon
- Thursday, July 23, 9a-Noon (CANCELED)
- Friday, July 24, 9a-Noon
You are welcome to come at any time in those windows, for as long or as short of a time as you’d like. If you have any questions please contact Karen – [email protected].
Come In At Your Own Time
We are also happy to set up other times – whether for you on your own or for a group. Please email Karen ([email protected]) with the times that you are interested and we will try to make it work.
Why Sort Supplies?
Mano a Mano was founded 21 years ago with the goal of saving surplus medical supplies from the landfill in Minnesota and shipping them to Bolivia, where we knew these supplies were desperately needed and could be used immediately.
We have grown to now building infrastructure projects in partnership with rural Bolivian communities (more than 300 projects to date), but the surplus distribution program remains a critical component of our programs in Bolivia, while also reducing waste in Minnesota.
In 2014 we shipped more than 100,000 pounds of supplies from Minnesota to Bolivia, with the help of many volunteers! Our most recent shipment of 3 40-foot containers, loaded with 75,540 pounds of surplus supplies, finally arrived in Cochabamba on Saturday, June 27th! More than 40 volunteers – working ‘like ants’ as our Bolivia staff said – started at 2a that morning unloading the supplies at our warehouse. These supplies left our Minnesota warehouse in late November 2014; it is a LONG process to get through customs, but now that they are there we can start distributing supplies to our programs and to other organizations throughout Bolivia. (Saturday was a busy day; we also had an education workshop in Vinto with our group of teachers from Minnesota at the same time.)
