NSB Contributes $1,500 to Partners for World Health in Portland

PORTLAND—On May 15-16 at the Good Theater on Stevens Avenue in Portland, fashion will merge with fun at the 2025 Blue Wrap Project Runway, a showcase of brand-new designs inspired by the traditional dress of countries from around the world. More importantly, the event will raise awareness and needed funds for the environmental and humanitarian mission of Partners for World Health in Portland. The organization has helped thousands of people in need by shipping more than $35 million in supplies and medical equipment overseas to troubled areas around the world. In the process, over five million pounds of medical supplies have been collected, repackaged, and distributed to hospitals instead of landfills. Last year alone, Partners for World Health collected 540,000 pounds of discarded medical equipment and supplies for communities in need.

“We believe challenges are opportunities for action,” said Elizabeth McLellan, Founder and CEO of Partners for World Health. “We collect medical supplies and equipment from healthcare facilities, manufacturers, and others and evaluate and repackage them, preparing these supplies and equipment for distribution to individuals, communities, and healthcare facilities. We are diverting materials from landfills, lowering healthcare costs, and providing resources to people in need.”

The organization has assisted medical professionals and patients from Uganda to Ukraine and beyond, including here in Maine, where Norway Savings Bank renewed its longtime support of the organization with a recent $1,500 donation.  

“Watching the growth of this wonderful organization and the commitment it has to its ideals and mission has been overwhelming,” said Dan Walsh, President and CEO of Norway Savings Bank. “Each year, they increase the number of lives saved, medical supplies delivered, environmental impact initiatives, and training programs and events for people in Maine and across the world.”

“Norway Savings Bank’s support is very important to us, and we are deeply moved by their commitment,” said McLellan. “The generosity is vital to our continued ability to respond to so many in need here at home and throughout the world.”

The idea for PWH began when McLellan (RN, MSN, MPH) was working as a nurse administrator at a trauma center in Saudi Arabia and, during a visit to Pakistan, observed a hospital that lacked even basic supplies or sinks. Upon returning home, she started to address the problem with small steps, gathering discarded supplies at the Maine hospital where she was working. She rented a storage space within two years and moved more than 11,000 pounds of collected medical supplies and equipment, including wheelchairs, out of her home and into the space.

“It’s hard for me to believe we have grown so much with a presence all over New England and beyond,” she said.

If you would like to help PWH through a gift of money, your time, or an equipment or supply donation, visit www.partnersforworldhealth.org/donate. To learn more about the Blue Wrap Project Runway event in May, head to www.partnersforworldhealth.org/calendar-events.