c/o Medical Teams International
P.O. Box 10
Portland, Oregon 97207-0010
503-624-1000 or 1-800-959-4325
The History of Operation Shoebox |
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c/o Medical Teams International P.O. Box 10 Portland, Oregon 97207-0010 503-624-1000 or 1-800-959-4325
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Operation Shoebox is an Oregon-based, non-profit 501(3)c volunteer organization whose outreach serves primarily the poor and underserved in Honduras, Central America.
In 1987, after seeing the impoverished conditions of many Honduran and refugee children, Dan Johnson, an Air National Guardsman from Medford, Oregon, spearheaded an effort to provide health and school supplies packed in shoeboxes.
In response to Honduran requests, the scope of Operation Shoebox has expanded to include providing numerous volunteer medical/dental/construction services, donated supportive equipment and funds for specific projects for children and adults.
Cooperative alliances with other Oregon and
Honduran non-profit organizations* also facilitate providing goods,
services and funds for needed Honduran public health projects.
The transport of donated equipment, supplies
and shoeboxes to Honduras is made possible by the Denton Humanitarian Airlift
Program which allows empty cargo space on Air Force and National Guard flights
to be used at no charge. Honduran officials, families and health professionals
have responded with gratitude, inspiration and effective distribution of the
goods and services provided over the past years.
We try to complement visionary projects already being developed in Honduras by
Cadena de Amor, Emma Romero de Callejas Centro de Cancer and 22 Affiliates, and
the Tegucigalpa Rotary Club. Operation Shoebox welcomes your involvement
and/or financial support to make a
difference in the lives of our needy brothers and sisters to the south. Volunteers, members and directors are areas of possible service.
We accelerated our efforts following Hurricane Mitch and have provided medical care for over 5000 rural and urban poor in Honduras.
Healing The Children, NW Medical Teams, VOSH, Help Honduras, Lifeline Christian Mission, Brushfire Ministries, Salem and Newberg OR Rotary Clubs, Tegucigalpa Rotary Club, Rotary
International, Cadena de Amor, Emma Romero de Callejas Centro de Cancer &
Affiliates and others.
Shoebox Gifts
Collecting and delivering shoeboxes to needy children continues to be a major activity. Various Oregon groups, schools, churches, businesses and individuals are recruited to fill shoeboxes with items (personal hygiene and school supplies, plus a toy and some hard candy) for
Honduran children who are the poorest of the poor.
Over 32000 shoeboxes were sent during Hurricane Mitch and typically they are handed out to the
children after the completion of a medical or dental treatment program or clinic.
Since 1995, more than 50,000 shoeboxes have been sent to the children of Honduras. Medical and Dental TeamsOn a rotating basis, volunteer physicians, technicians and lay persons work and teach at the Cancer Center and to some extent, the National Teaching Hospital in Tegucigalpa. Similar volunteers, as well as dentists, oral surgeons and pharmacists, variously participate in traveling to poor and remote areas where medical facilities are either not available or not affordable and help with medical and dental brigades.
Donations
Over the years, except for the Gulf War period, we have sent from one to three military
airlifts per year containing medical and dental equipment/supplies, school supplies and
clothing, the largest shipment of which completely filled an Air Force C-5 transport plane.
Throughout the US and Northwest, medical facilities are continually updating their equipment and
many are willing to donate it to needy hospitals, dental clinics, schools, etc.
in Honduras. For example, lots of good used equipment (i.e., 30 or so good
mammography machines, cassettes, viewboxes, surgical tables, surgical lights,
sterilizers, anesthesia machines, etc.) and supplies have been donated to the
Cancer Center, and also to National Teaching Hospitals in Tegucigalpa and San
Pedro Sula.
Through the Denton Amendment Humanitarian Airlift Program, we have been able to ship these items without charge, utilizing US Military aircraft when training missions take them to Honduras.
In addition, new equipment has been donated recently by individuals, churches, schools, Rotary Clubs, etc. (e.g., five new portable Rotodent dental units and a complete office computer package).
Also donated funds are sent for specific projects, e.g. for secretarial help, a Honduran
water project (Salem Rotary clubs/Rotary International), and for Cancer Center projects.
Professional EducationFrom time to time volunteers from Operation Shoebox have participated in medical Conferences in Tegucigalpa as instructors and visiting experts. Likewise, we have provided presentations at the Cancer Center and Medical School Hospital for health care professionals on modern techniques in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
Construction and Repair
Annually, teams of construction people travel to Honduras to do remodeling and new construction of small medical/dental or related facilities. Examples are the remodeling of pediatric dental clinics and reconstruction of the headquarters of Cadena de Amor.
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Mailing address: Operation Shoebox c/o Medical Teams International P.O. Box 10 Portland, Oregon 97207-0010 503-624-1000 or 1-800-959-4325 E-mail: Contact Us |
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| Operation Shoebox is an Oregon-based, non-profit, 501(c)3 organization that serves and empowers the poor, primarily in Honduras. It is a project of Medical Teams International We are staffed completely by volunteers. | |