Donation Requests
The health care and disaster recovery needs are vast and getting them to where they are needed is often impossible (or financially impractical). Our Sea Bridge of vessels and programs insure your donations are received by us and delivered to those they were meant for. Below are a few ways to provide the help needed.
Health Care Related Donations
The medical needs in a third world nation are beyond our imaginations. They can often seem overwhelming at first glance when looking at our request list. But, please know that we are not expecting any one individual or organization to provide all that we are requesting. Instead, we are only asking for what you can give, or for what you might be wanting to "get rid of". It will be a valuable treasure for our Sea Mercy volunteers and patients and/or for island nation partners and their remote clinics.
We will primarily be working and operating "on vessel" so our needs are more "small footprint" items that can be easily re-stocked at the end of each 2 week rotation. Additional "larger footprint" items will be delivered to the nearest remote land based hospitals or clinics for their use, and for our remote island patient emergency referrals. So any item you donate will be utilized either directly by Sea Mercy, or indirectly through the Hospitals and Clinics.
Disaster Relief Related Donations
Although cyclones are becoming more prevalent and powerful each year, they are not predictable (location). Sea Mercy has always focused on being the first to respond with aid to the outer remote islands, with an emphasis on water and shelter.
Addressing the clean drinking water needs, we have focused on delivering water filters (family and village sized) and desalination units (small and large) to devastated communities. This not only addresses the most urgent needs following a disaster, but avoids creating an ecological disaster on top of a natural one (plastic bottles). With regards to shelter, we have available the SMART Tarps (with water catchment) and generic tarps for emergency shelter.
None of the above would be possible without the financial and in-kind support from our partnerships within the shipping and yachting community. By purchasing in advance and then staging the above items within our disaster response hubs (Vanuatu and Fiji), our vessels are able to respond immediately (within 24-48 hours) with emergency aid.
Please consider either sponsoring a specific water or shelter item or make a financial contribution to our Disaster Response War Chest so that we can purchase what we need.
Economic Development Donations
The needs on the remote islands are vast and the initial costs to invest and implement these economic programs are challenging as well. Our goal is to develop self-sustaining programs that are a hand up, not a hand out.
Whether we are providing a remote community with soils training programs to teach how to be self sustaining and to grow healthy food, or teaching them how to build and sail an Amatasi sailing vessel for sustainable transport and fishing, our economic development programs are meant to provide impact and change.
If these programs interest you, please consider sponsoring a soils class, a vessel or a direct donation to Sea Mercy to expand the type and number of programs we provide.
Shipping Address for Donations:
Sea Mercy HQ
25075 W. Demming Rd.
Elmira, OR 97437