Supporting Medical Missions Globally

By Rindi White

n 2023, Associated General Contractors, or AGC, of Alaska member Alaska Marine Lines, or AML, and Lynden Logistics provided shipping transport for a container of used medical equipment and relief supplies sent from Whittier to the African port of Ghana in support of Alaska-based nonprofit Alaska Medical Missions, or AMM.

The container was shipped from Whittier to Seattle, then loaded onto a ship for the longest leg of the journey to Africa. From Ghana, it was shipped to Burkina Faso, where the medical supplies were divided and sent to a variety of locations, some headed to a military-run hospital to care for those injured as a result of political unrest in that country.

AMM, an associate agency that is part of Christian Health Associates, Inc., works to improve healthcare around the world by partnering with organizations to collect surplus and fully functional medical supplies from Alaska—mostly organizations on the Southcentral Alaska road system but sometimes from medical facilities around Alaska that are upgrading equipment and sometimes from private practices moving, closing, or upgrading equipment. Some supplies come from private donations; families whose loved ones have died, donating beds or opened and unused medical supplies. AMM then distributes the supplies to a global network of partners, often packing them into suitcases of doctors or health professionals headed to volunteer around the world. A list of needed medical supplies is posted at AMM’s website, alaskamedicalmissions.org/donate-supplies. Occasionally, AMM is able to pack a shipment of beds or dental chairs into a shipping container, which was the case with the Burkina Faso-bound equipment.

Lynden has been a longtime supporter, and, in 2022, sponsored its annual Aid to the Nations benefit auction.

“Lynden companies continue to make the daunting task of global shipping streamlined for AMM with shipments to our partners around the world. We count Lynden as one of the key partners in making our mission work, sending aid to the nations where even the most basic medical supplies save lives. We are deeply grateful for Lynden’s latest support of this shipment to Burkina Faso,” says David Rurik, AMM director.

Lynden Logistics International Operations Manager Brandie Holmes says the Alaska Railroad played a part in the shipping journey, too.

“The railroad covered the shipping costs from Anchorage to Whittier, and we partnered with AML to donate our services from Anchorage to Ghana,” Holmes says.

A group of volunteers helps fill a container of medical supplies and equipment before it is shipped to Burkina Faso last year.

Photo provided by Alaska Medical Missions

Rurik says AMM and Lynden were working to ship another container of needed supplies to Malawi in May for the organization Pothawira, which means Safe Haven. The organization runs a medical clinic—including a birthing center that AMM helped stock—an elementary school, and a home for more than 100 orphaned children. The organization is building a four-suite surgery center, Rurik says, and the shipment, which includes exam tables, ultrasound machines, and an array of medical supplies, should arrive just in time for construction of the surgery center to be complete.

Rurik says the cost to AMM to ship the medical containers is generally around $5,000. The organization relies on individual donors and corporate sponsors to fund its operations so the recipient organization can receive the supplies for free. The recipient organization is typically responsible for the shipping cost, but AMM’s shipping partners, including Lynden, have participated in reducing the shipping costs immensely in the past few years.

Lynden strives to give back to the communities it serves with financial contributions and by donating in-kind services to various causes. Lynden companies and employees support hundreds of charitable and community organizations, including United Way, Habitat for Humanity, the YMCA, and local food banks.