One of the things that makes MEMO so different to many overseas humanitarian organizations, is that there are so many opportunities for hands on contributions from dressing dolls to moving 1200 pound mammography machines. From washing last year’s menu off wheelchairs to re-programming the computer on a heart testing machine.

From time to time somebody asks if there is something they can do hands on, even if they live away from Thunder Bay. Yes there are!

How about selling this beautiful parambulater (baby buggy) or this collector doll on eBay for us? The buggy as you can see is in almost perfect condition and similiar ones sell for as much as $1000 on eBay. The paper on your right of the doll, gives a price of $225 on eBay. We have several donated items like this that are worth more turned into cash than sent to Cuba. Have you experience selling on eBay? If so you can be a huge help in raising funds. Contact me.

Or maybe you are a creative seamstress. You can make dolls 12″ or larger or dress old dolls that need to be loved again. We will give them to children in Cuban hospitals in Jesus name. They can be sent to us from anywhere at a small cost.

Perhaps you need to get out of the house more and meet new people. You can canvas your local pharmacies for out of date antibiotics that can not be returned. If the bulk container is opened the pharmacist cannot return them for credit. Ask the pharmacist to donate them to Cuba. We will biodegrade them into non toxic metabolites by passing them through the liver or kidneys of a sick Cuban! Many of today’s antibiotics cost $5 or more per pill. It is very difficult to get antibiotics in Cuba. Because antibiotics are a high value to weight they are well worth shipping to us. Contact me for information that the pharmacist will want to know. This is time consuming and requires perseverance over time, but can save lives.

If you live in Thunder Bay you can volunteer to do inventory-preparing things for shipping. Usually once a week for three hours.

For the mechanically inclined there are wheel chairs and a few other things to be repaired at the warehouse.

You don’t have to leave your house to help. You can place “use before” stickers on dressings and supplies. We will deliver and pick up.

For the more robust,  about every two weeks we pick up equipment from homes for the aged and local hospitals with a 5 ton truck.

And of course, the  most exciting of all,  spending a day packing an ocean container for Cuba.

We have regular volunteers who do specialized jobs. Karen Parker does the DOLLs program and office work. Dave March arranges transportation and packing. Lori Owens looks after organizing dressings and ostomy supplies. She needs help from time to time. Dr Jane Taylor is heading up corporate funding.

An unmet need to date is for someone with organizing skills to take over getting our warehouse organized. Once organized it would probably take one day a week.

This year as you ask God what He wants you to do to serve Him, consider MEMO as a project that is worth spending your valuable time on. As Mary Jane says,”I feel so good when I help with MEMO. It is fun working with good people, and I know it will directly benefit someone.”

So if you feel the slightest urging, please give me a call 346 8170 or contact us through this website and we will taylor a job for your skills and time!

I look forward to MEMO’s best year yet.

Jerome