medicine for all people
Our mission: To provide medicine and health supplies to those in need around the world so they might experience life to the fullest.
“Your generosity makes MAP’s work possible.”
We conducted a Q&A with MAP International’s new President and CEO, Chris Palombo, to answer MAP supporters’ questions and share his vision as he begins his tenure. Chris started his career as a missionary and minister before moving into the healthcare space, where he focused on developing infrastructure to expand access and improve outcomes for underserved populations. With decades of leadership experience in healthcare innovation and mission-driven service, Chris most recently served as the CEO of Dispensary of Hope, a charitable organization dedicated to increasing medication access for uninsured patients in the U.S.
New MAP President and CEO, Chris Palombo. To read more about his background, visit map.org/leadership.
Q: What would you tell MAP supporters about their importance to MAP?
A: MAP is awarded annually many accolades for its operational excellence with decades-old relationships which result in many hundreds of millions of dollars in medicine being secured FOR FREE from gracious corporate donors.
MAP’s ability to find and ship the right products is a rare capability, and it is being used to have a profound impact on our world. But don’t give just because of that. Our Father in Heaven cares for the poor, the widow, the prisoner, and the orphan. Our God knows each of them and has the very hairs of their head numbered.
God knows their families, the challenges of living, what they dream about, what they fear, and the great risk that the vulnerable live with each day. He knows their names and HE CARES for each by name. God is looking for partners. God is looking to US to answer those prayers. God is looking for a generous heart to say YES and do just a little to serve the healthcare needs of His children.
Q: What is your vision for MAP as you begin your tenure?
A: In the first 90 days, I want to meet everyone! All of our team and as many of the generous donors as possible. I want to meet as many people as I can as fast as I can.
I am eager to get connected to our amazing networks, to encourage, to applaud, to cheer and to strengthen MAP’s work. MAP is doing a profound job today of raising hundreds of millions in healthcare supplies for our world, so I want to join the team in supporting all that works and look with the team at the next chapter of that work. There are strategies to amplify, new things to try, and new areas of our calling to explore. Same mission, retaining all that works, but adding new ideas...so that the mission moves further.
MAP brings lifesaving medicine to millions of the world’s poorest, most vulnerable people.
Mamie Gives Thanks to God For Her Son’s Treatment
Mamie held her son close and bounced him up and down. The baby, John, had been clingy and upset for days, making it nearly impossible for Mamie to do anything else. She felt pressure to be out in the fields helping her husband with their farming business, but their son came first, and sick babies require a lot of attention.
Eventually, John developed a fever, refused to eat, and grew weak and lethargic. When it became clear that the little boy was not going to get better on his own, Mamie walked the three miles to the nearest clinic.
Living in rural Sierra Leone, they were fortunate to be that close to any sort of healthcare facility, though Mamie wasn’t sure how she would afford any medicine for John.
The doctor at the clinic diagnosed John with an acute cold and a roundworm infection. Mamie kept quiet, afraid to ask for help with the medicine that John needed.
But just as she had worked up the courage to ask, a nurse came in and gave her some chewable tablets of the antiparasitic medicine. It was free, the nurse said, courtesy of MAP
International. Mamie nearly wept with joy – what a blessing of provision!
A month and a half later, John is recovering well and has enough energy to play with other children again. Mamie can now concentrate on her farming work, which gives the family money to feed and clothe everyone; they even have some money left over to pay the school fees for their other children.
“I am pleased with the treatment,” Mamie told a nurse at the clinic. “Thanks to God Almighty, the nurses at the center, and their partner, MAP International.”
When you support MAP International in bringing health to children like John, you are also supporting entire families. Because John had access to the medicine he needed, his mother was able to go back to work, and in turn, helped provide for the rest of the family’s needs and the education of her other children.
Yolette’s Prayers Were Answered with Your Help
Yolette felt relief wash over her when the doctor at this new clinic told her they had the medicine she needed in stock. At 68 years old, Yolette knew she couldn’t afford to not have the medicine she needed for her diabetes, but she also couldn’t afford to purchase it.
In Haiti, where Yolette lives, gang violence has increased dramatically over the last few years, and her usual primary care clinic had recently been forced to close its doors because of the gang activity in the neighborhood. For weeks, she had searched for somewhere else to get her medicine with no luck.
But finally, she walked into a clinic run by a MAP partner. They agreed to treat her – AND they had her medicine in stock in the clinic pharmacy, for free!
Across the country of Haiti, medications are becoming more difficult to source due to violent gangs controlling main roads and
ports. “Fortunately,” says Dr. Briana Zachary, the staff physician at this particular clinic, “we are able to supply Yolette with metformin obtained from MAP.”
Yolette is one of many new patients that Dr. Zachary has seen recently with a chronic medical condition. Because so many other clinics in Haiti have had to shut down, patients like Yolette have either been left completely without care or have been forced to travel long distances to find the care they need. “Fortunately, we have been able to meet the needs of our increased patient load thanks to help from organizations like MAP,” says Dr. Zachary
Equipping Medical Mission Teams Saves Lives in Mexico
Imagine being sick enough to need a doctor and living “in the middle of nowhere.” For most of us, when we imagine that scenario, some rural corner of America comes to mind and our version of “in the middle of nowhere” means the nearest hospital is still within an hour’s drive.
But imagine if medical care was a full day’s drive away, and that was only if you had access to a working vehicle. That is how the Tarahumara people of Mexico live. The Tarahumara people are one of the largest Indigenous groups in North America, inhabiting the most remote and isolated villages of the Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico.
Dr. George Wortley, a MAP mission partner, has worked alongside the Tarahumara people for decades, providing medical care in the wilderness, where no other options are available. And when it comes to MAP medicines, he says basic is best. “The most commonly used medications are the simple ones,” says Dr. Wortley.
The Tarahumara are hardy people, and Dr. Wortley describes them as industrious and resilient. The women “work very hard carrying children on their back and firewood or water in their arms on steep, rocky terrain.” Not surprisingly, they often mention experiencing back and leg pain, which Dr. Wortley easily alleviates with pain relievers from MAP.
“Their diet is limited by what they can grow,” Dr. Wortley continues. “This was a poor growing season due to little rain, so we dispensed many multivitamins to [both] adults and children.” Antibiotics from MAP were also frequently given.
Through the hands and feet of people like Dr. Wortley, MAP medicines are reaching some of the most remote corners of the world and making a transformative difference in the lives of those who have no access to modern resources .
Chris Palombo Q&A (continued)
Q: What are you most looking forward to as the leader of MAP?
A: It is a high honor to help those in need. Service to others is compelling. Jesus served others and He called us to serve others and to widen His impact on Earth, as it is in Heaven. Raising money and aligning products to serve the poor is a noble vocation and a high form of worship to a God who loves all people. Each hour, our Father hears the prayers of the nations, and many of those prayers are requests for relief, health, miracles, and assistance. What a glorious place we can be in to answer the earnest prayers of our friends, family, and neighbors.
Initially, we will begin a strategic discernment process. We already know our calling. So, we will clarify our best strategies and distill our tactics to bring the most that we can to others. I am looking forward to that strategic planning process. After that process, which will take months, we will have our roadmap to add on more strategies to serve more people.
Ways You Can Help MAP International Have Even More Impact
MAP prides itself on being good stewards of the gifts entrusted to us by God and our supporters. As you start planning your year-end giving around this time, we wanted to share a few additional giving options.
Schedule a gift from a Donor Advised Fund (DAF): Giving through your donor advised fund is an easy way to have a maximum impact in getting lifesaving medicine and health supplies to those who need them most.
Donate stock or other non-cash assets: If you have appreciated stocks, you can transfer them to MAP International and avoid paying capital gains tax. You can also deduct the full value on your taxes! This is just one way to donate and can make a difference on your tax-return next year. Transfer stocks today.
Make a Qualified Charitable Distribution and save on taxes by giving from your IRA. If you are 70.5 or older, giving to MAP International directly from your IRA allows you to support our critical work without dipping into your taxable income.
To learn more about these and other great ways you can support MAP International’s mission, please visit www.map.org/ways_to_give or contact us at 1-800-225-8550.
“We’ll be looking at ways to get medicine to more kids like Melodi,” says Chris.
Because of you.
Today, smiles are chasing away tears for so many in forgotten places who now have health and hope because of your unwavering generosity.
We dedicate our Fall 2024 Newsletter to our faithful supporters who make it possible for MAP International to carry out our calling to provide lifesaving medicine and health supplies for a world in desperate need. We hope you’ve been encouraged by what you’ve read. Please know, a gift in any amount will help ensure we have even more inspiring stories of redemption to share.