Ayres Helps Pack Medical Gear for Ebola Zone and Beyond

A group of Ayres Associates leaders and managers recently stepped out of the office and into a medical warehouse, all in the name of the greater good.

An 18-member group spent the morning of Oct. 17 helping the nonprofit organization Advocates for World Health (AWH) sort through surplus medical supplies in its Tampa, Florida, warehouse. The organization provides medical products to overseas clinics and hospitals in need. Participating Ayres Associates employees are shown above with Tiele Aldridge, left, inventory specialist at Advocates for World Health.

“This is a nonprofit that depends on volunteers to operate and serves a great purpose,” says Hisham Sunna, vice president in Ayres’ Tampa office. He helped coordinate the project after researching area volunteer opportunities and realizing the organization’s need for assistance. “Medical supplies that would otherwise have ended in landfills are sent where they can be used by hospitals and clinics who potentially cannot afford them otherwise.”

The Ayres Associates volunteers primarily sorted through medical supplies, as well as surgical linens and gowns that will be sent to Liberia to serve as personal protective gear against the Ebola outbreak. They’re shown hard at work below.

“These items prevent further spread of disease when medical personnel interact with patients that are infected with the virus,” explains AWH program assistant Aruba Sami.

Participating employees had just wrapped up a two-day fall conference in Tampa and, as has become their custom, took on the service project at the conclusion of the meeting.

AWH’s Sami says the organization was grateful for Ayres’ assistance.

“The employees were extremely helpful,” she says. “Since we’re a small company, we really rely on our volunteers to help us with sorting the copious amounts of donations we get. It really helps us and people feel good about helping a cause that is really making a difference in countries around the world.”

Sunna says he and the other volunteers were happy to pitch in.

“It was a fun group effort and a good feeling to give back. For that Friday morning, their mission became our mission – and we were all glad to be helping out a good cause,” says Sunna, who initially learned of AWH while looking for volunteer opportunities for his two teenagers. “When we hear about Ebola outbreaks and the like, and know that Third World countries are in dire need of medical equipment and supplies to combat them, it is good to know that there are groups out there trying to do something about it. To be part of that, even on the fringes, gives you satisfaction.”