Partners for World Health

Friday Feature: Thank You, Maine Med ER Team! 💙

Last night, 16 emergency room doctors from MaineHealth Maine Medical Center rolled up their sleeves and volunteered right here at Partners for World Health! They spent the evening sorting hospital supplies and cleaning durable medical equipment (DME) — work that helps get life-saving medical resources to communities around the world who need them most.

It means so much when busy medical professionals give their personal time to support our mission. Thank you to this incredible group for showing up and making a real difference!

Want to volunteer with us? Visit https://www.partnersforworldhealth.org/volunteering

Join us on September 23rd for pizza and at Maine Beer Company! Click to reserve: https://mainebeercompany.com/visit-us

Friday Feature 🎉

This week we're celebrating the heart of PWH — our volunteers! Yesterday we hosted our Volunteer Appreciation BBQ, and the turnout said it all: over 70 registered volunteers showed up to eat, laugh, and celebrate the work we do together.

John put it simply: "Volunteers are the circulatory system of PWH. None of this happens without you." Then he shared what your hands and hearts have made possible this year, and it is a LOT: 🚛

📦 15 containers shipped so far in 2026
🇺🇦 5 containers to Ukraine — bringing our total support since the war began to $7.5 million
🦠 Our important response to what is now the worst Ebola outbreak in history — as of August 27, there are 5,713 confirmed cases and 2,744 deaths after just 105 days, compared to only 759 cases during the previous worst outbreak in 2014. PWH has already sent one container of PPE to the Red Cross of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 28 more pallets ready to ship.John put it simply: "Volunteers are the circulatory system of PWH. None of this happens without you."

As always, a huge thank you to Alan and Naomi for everything you poured into making this event — and this year — possible. 💙

SAVE THE DATE: Join us for Maine Beer Company's Community Pizza Night on September 23rd — another easy way to support PWH! 20% of food sales that night go straight back to our mission. Bring your appetite, bring your friends. 🍕For more information: https://mainebeercompany.com/cpn

Did you know there's a shortage of blood in Maine? Join PWH and the American Red Cross of Northern New England on Friday, August 14th, for a Blood drive in memory of PWH volunteer, George Towle.

ISO Flannel Donations!

Our Sewing Group meets once a month to make blankets, hats, and washable sanitary items for the birthing kits and feminine hygiene kits we send to Uganda, Senegal, and Kenya.

Please, no torn or badly stained items!

Proud moment. Our CEO John Kuehnle was featured in Mainebiz talking about how Maine businesses can turn surplus goods into real impact for local nonprofits — something we do every day at Partners for World Health. Give it a read! 📰

If you don’t have medical equipment and supplies lying around, maybe your donations are a better fit for Furniture Friends, Good Shepherd Food Bank or Ruth's Reusable Resources, 3r's!!

How to put your surplus to work through Maine's nonprofits Before tossing anything in the dumpster, consider donating it to a nonprofit in need. Our expert offers tips on how to find the right organization and put surplus goods to good use.

♻ From Vermont, With Care

Some partnerships just work — and our relationship with Northwestern Medical Center in Vermont is one of them.

For several years, NMC has been a steady and generous supporter of our mission to keep usable medical supplies out of landfills and in the hands of people who need them. In the last two and a half years alone, they've donated over 10,700 lbs. of surplus consumables and equipment — 1,200 lbs. in 2024, 6,530 lbs. in 2025, and 3,000 lbs. so far in 2026.

That's not just a lot of supplies. It's also a meaningful environmental win: PWH estimates that volume alone has helped avoid roughly 5 metric tons of CO2 emissions — about what one car produces over the course of an entire year. 🌍

Those supplies don't stop in Maine. Materials collected from NMC and our other hospital partners have gone on to support communities in Ukraine, Liberia, Haiti, Uganda, Jamaica, and Sudan — places where medical resources are scarce and where every item makes a real difference in patient care.

But the partnership with Northwestern has given us more than supplies. Through their connections, PWH now works with Carpenters Motor Transport, a Vermont-based freight company that collects and consolidates donations from hospitals across the state before delivering them to our warehouse — replacing what used to require our own team making the drive out for every pickup. It's a smarter, more sustainable logistics model, and it came from one person thinking creatively about how to help.

We're so grateful for partners like Northwestern Medical Center, who help make health equity — and a healthier planet — possible, one shipment at a time. 💙

Join us FOUR weeks from today at PWH for a Blood Drive organized by American Red Cross of Northern New England. August 14th, from 9am - 2pm. Scan the QR code to book your appointment today!

P.S. - A little birdie 🐦 told us it's ! Comment below using only emojis to let us know if you're signed up 😁