For the Endowed Turkish Lecture Series program, the American Turkish Friendship Council partners with the Halle Institute to bring public intellectuals of the highest caliber in the fields of Ottoman and Turkish studies to speak and interact with students, faculty and members of the Atlanta-area community. Topics include history, politics, and culture.

For more information about The Halle Institute and their events, please visit http://www.halleinstitute.emory.edu/sub-speaker.htm.

 The Program:

MedShare International

Program Overview:

One of the American Turkish Friendship Council’s recent humanitarian efforts is the MedShare International project. In partnership with MedShare, the ATFC will provide much-needed medical supplies and equipment to hospitals in developing areas of Turkey. MedShare was established in 1999 by two concerned Atlanta citizens inspired by two critical situations – the medical needs of underserved populations worldwide, and the environmental threat of discarded surplus. Each year more than two million tons of medical waste is generated in the United States. MedShare collects unopened, surplus medical supplies and unused or slightly used equipment from the U.S. hospitals and manufacturers, processes and sterilizes the donated material, and makes it available to hospitals and clinics overseas.

 
For each project, the MedShare staff puts together a container of supplies and equipment tailored to the exact needs of the recipient hospital. The approximate cost to prepare, load and ship each container is $20,000. Each forty-foot container leaving MedShare holds over 800 boxes of life saving supplies and much needed medical equipment, valued between $150,000 and $200,000. Containers are shipped directly to the hospitals, and the MedShare staff manages the program once the items are delivered. The staff also makes sure that the shipments are received on time, undamaged and that the equipment is put to proper use.

MedShare has sent more than $65 million dollars worth of life-saving medical supplies and equipment to hospitals and clinics in 80 countries. Until now, Turkey was not one of the recipient countries.

The ATFC has raised the money to make the first shipment of medical supplies to Kızılay (Turkish Red Cross) in Turkey, which was delivered in May 2009. Based upon the success of the initial shipment, Kızılay officials have expressed their desire to receive 4 to 6 shipments per year to be used in Kızılay hospitals and mobile units within Turkey and abroad including Darfour, Sudan and Afghanistan.    

Objective:

The ATFC plans to raise $40,000 per year to ship at least two 40 foot containers of equipment and supplies to hospitals and clinics in the under-served areas of Turkey each year.

To learn more about MedShare International, please visit them at www.medshare.org.

Donation: