In 2000, several of Direct Relief’s dedicated female supporters came together to form Women for Direct Relief as a platform for women in the Santa Barbara community to collaborate and discuss Direct Relief’s various programs and ways to expand and support them. Members of Women for Direct Relief share a keen interest in supporting Direct Relief’s maternal and child health programs.
Women for Direct Relief has hosted numerous public health and international development experts to speak at our warehouse in Santa Barbara as an educational resource for our supporters. Additionally, Women for Direct Relief have participated in and helped coordinate several service trips to Direct Relief’s in-country partners and have improved the lives of hundreds of people in the process.
Projects
- In May 2008, 17 women, including three graduating senior students from Del Playa High School, delivered 700 pounds of Direct Relief’s medical goods to various health facilities in and around Antigua, Guatemala. In addition to distributing medicines, Women for Direct Relief were able to coordinate free health screenings and gynecological exams for women who would otherwise lack access to care in collaboration with our in-country partner, the God’s Child Project.
- In 2006, Women for Direct Relief participated in a service trip to Direct Relief’s longtime partner, FUDEM, in El Salvador, to help improve ophthalmic health in the country through the distribution of high-dose vitamin A tablets to children in rural areas. Direct Relief has worked with FUDEM since 2000, providing ophthalmic sutures, eye antibiotics, and other eye medicines worth over $4 million (wholesale). Read a personal account of their visit.
- In 2003, Women for Direct Relief made a five-day trip to support the work of Dr. Laura del Valle at her clinic, Casa Clinica Convivencia Campesina, in Las Varas, Mexico.
If you would like to attend future Women for Direct Relief events and receive updates on our activities, please contact Alissa Larreta at alarreta@DirectRelief.org.