MESA Warehouse
Posted by Harold Bischoff
on Nov 13, 2015
MESA has settled into its new warehouse facility in Fostoria.
It was Thursday, October 30, 2014 that Medical Equipment & Supplies Abroad (MESA) was finally able to purchase a warehouse of their own. The organization which was formed by District Governor Elect Bob Kuck II in conjunction with other District Rotarians in 1981, had until then been housed in a number of locations over the years from Finley to Waterville. In l989 Lima Rotarian Jack Goodnight became the MESA Chairman and served in that role until 2002
The Mission of MESA is to facilitate international service projects bringing equipment, technology and volunteerism to meet humanitarian needs throughout the world. MESA fulfills it’s mission by collecting unused medical equipment, staging the equipment for shipment, helping District 6600 Rotary Clubs contact Host Rotary Clubs in countries of need to address one of the six identified areas of focus for Rotary International
• Peace and conflict prevention/resolution
• Disease prevention and treatment
• Water and sanitation
• Maternal and child health
• Basic education and literacy
• Economic and community development
Since moving into the Fostoria warehouse facility MESA has shipped four truck containers to areas of need. The most recent containers were shipped to Jamaca, Belize, Nigeria and Honduras. A map on the MESA website: www.rotarymesa.org notes all the locations to which shipment of containers have been sent over the years. The website also lists the specific medical equipment, personal patient equipment, disposables, household and educational items that MESA collects and ships around the world.
North Baltimore Rotarian Gary Davis, Director of Operations & Logistics for MESA notes that the Fostoria location is ideal as it is in the center of District 6600. It is hoped that District Committee meetings could be held in the facility and the warehouse will allow for storage of records for District Governors. The only addition that had to be installed in order to use the facility was the purchase of a mobile dock to allow the loading of the containers. Gary noted that the 26,400 square foot facility has allowed MESA to accept additional and larger contributions from hospital systems.
The purchase of the warehouse was only possible due to a St. Marys Rotarian’s personal loan of $70,000.00 which will be repaid over time. In fact, at the most recent MESA Board meeting it was noted that the loan is now down to $43,000.00. The Lima Rotary has been one of the leaders in giving to MESA for many years and has not as yet contributed to the effort to retire this debt. A Lima Rotary Foundation grant application will be submitted in the near future to help in this campaign.