For Eleonora Slovokhotova, a Russian-American mother living in the Houston area, everything changed some 400 days ago when Russia invaded Ukraine.
“I just couldn’t sleep anymore,” she said. To help, Slovokhotova took in refugees from the war to her home in Katy and started supporting personnel on the frontlines with donations.
From a Facebook post, she learned about the local branch of a national organization called Project C.U.R.E. It’s the largest distributor of donated medical supplies and equipment to doctors and nurses in more than 135 countries, including Ukraine.
After volunteering one day with Project C.U.R.E. (Commission on Urgent Relief and Equipment), Slovokhotova said she just simply never left.
“I am a team leader here, welcoming and helping new volunteers and supporting our regular team,” she said recently at the warehouse at 8303 Kempwood Dr., in the Spring Branch Management District.
Eleonora Slovokhotova with shipment to Sudan
Project C.U.R.E. was founded in a Colorado garage in 1987 and has since expanded to seven distribution locations across the U.S., including the one in Houston.
Slovokhotova is extremely proud of all the volunteers and also the efficiency with which the group operates.
“This is the biggest supplier of donated medical goods and equipment to developing countries and a top 20 most efficient large charities,” she said.
Volunteers range from a longtime helper in his 80s who comes daily to staff a shift, spouses coming to volunteer together, high schoolers, medical students, doctors and nurses, Slovokhotova said.
“We always need help here and are happy to see new faces at our facility.”
Last year, Slovokhotova said, the Houston center shipped 27 containers around the world and reached thousands of people in need. Just last week, they packed shipments to Sudan and Ukraine, with containers for Turkey and Syria up next in response to earthquakes there.
There are many ways to get involved with the top-rated charity. A donation of just $25 pays for shipping a box of medical supplies with an average value of $500 anywhere in the world.
While many donations of medical equipment come from hospitals and other healthcare facilities, the group also takes individual donations of supplies that are functional but no longer needed by the owners. Volunteers test, clean, inventory and pack the items for shipping.
While all volunteers are welcome, Slovokhotova said, those who are familiar with medical equipment can help with specific projects testing and sorting items.
In addition to identifying, soliciting, collecting, sorting and delivering medical supplies and services according to the imperative needs of other countries, Slovokhotova said the organization has saved countless items from being dumped into landfills.
Each week, the national Project C.U.R.E. delivers approximately three to five ocean-bound, truck-sized shipping containers packed with the medical equipment and supplies desperately needed to save lives in hospitals and clinics in resource-limited countries.
In addition, each year hundreds of healthcare professionals travel with Project C.U.R.E. to provide medical treatment to communities in need and training to those dedicated to serving them.
“The relative wealth of life in the U.S. makes understanding challenges in the poorest parts of the poorest countries difficult to comprehend. The work we do at Project C.U.R.E. helps to balance that scale ever so slightly,” said Holly Havlick, who is one of a few people who are employed by the nonprofit, rather than volunteers. She serves as interim operations director.
“Project C.U.R.E. allows us all to have a very real impact on the health of those in need,” Havlick said.
To volunteer in Spring Branch, go to https://projectcure.org/location/houston/ or call the warehouse at 832-251-2489.
Slovokhotova is ready to welcome you and, once you volunteer, ask you to sign a poster greeting for medical professionals at the receiving countries. It’s the last item loaded with each shipment, and the first thing those in need will see.
Project C.U.R.E.
8303 Kempwood Dr.
Houston, TX 77055
Office, Warehouse, & Donation Drop-Off Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
— by Dorothy Puch Lillig
