Direct Relief International on Wednesday received a gift of $75,000 to support its rapidly expanding program to assist low-income people without health insurance in obtaining prescription medicines.
Direct Relief’s program, launched in partnership with nonprofit clinics and community health centers and health care companies four years ago, has provided more than $125 million worth of medicines to clinic and health center patients in all 50 states, including more than 3.5 million prescriptions last year.
A private, anonymous donor from Palo Alto pledged the gift to support the expansion of the program.
“We deeply appreciate this gift, which allows us to continue the important work of expanding access to needed medicines for working poor, uninsured people who are often caught in a terrible bind when they get sick or hurt,” said Damon Taugher, the director of Direct Relief’s domestic initiatives. “The safety net clinics and health centers see this situation every day, and they are critically important points of access for millions of people.”
Direct Relief has held a pharmacy wholesaler license in California for 45 years – rare among humanitarian medical aid organizations – and has obtained similar licenses in 46 states to enable the program’s expansion throughout the United States. Applications for licenses are pending in the four remaining states.
The program’s low-cost, highly leveraged model has been possible because of the participation of pharmaceutical companies, which donate medicines and supplies, and the in-kind support of FedEx, which last year made more than 2,000 deliveries free of charge.
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Jim Prosser is Direct Relief International‘s press secretary.