The RWHN receives medical supplies from various hospitals and hospital suppliers. Nearly every Wednesday a group of mainly women, many who are retired nurses including Lois Stewart meet at the Riverview warehouse. They sort and pack the medical equipment and supplies in boxes. Each box is labeled and stored for shipping to overseas. Upon loading the containers, the labels are being scanned and automatically entered into the shipping manifest with box number and content description.
In 2006 RWHN sent out 22 containers to 14 different countries and a membership of 38 Rotary Clubs. Since the operation of RWHN 10 years ago, we sent out 208 shipments to 46 different countries representing a replacement value of over $ 70 million Canadian.
Clubs can join the RWHN at a cost of $ 10 per member and participate in sending medical and educational equipment and supplies to developing countries. The cost to the club for sending out a container is $ 2500. This is a very good way for clubs to undertake an international service project at a reasonable cost and the benefits to the receiving country are very significant.
