The Value of Volunteers: 28,000,000 reasons they give

Last year, volunteers donated roughly 10,000 hours of work to Mission Outreach. With about 100 regular volunteers and 80-90 one-time volunteers annually, donated hours of work totaling 10,000 hours. That’s the equivalent of five full-time employees.

If you ask the IRS, that equates to a collective in-kind donation of $361,400. All non-profits who benefit from volunteers can count their time as an in-kind donation at a rate of $36.41 per hour. That means if Mission Outreach had to pay for the services our volunteers provide, we would need to add $361,400 to our budget. In Mission Outreach dollars, we’re talking the complete cost of seven global shipments of 40’ containers of needed medical supplies and equipment. That’s a lot of money.

While the monetary value is impressive, it’s not why our volunteers give their time to Mission Outreach. They do a lot of interesting and meaningful tasks. Our volunteers serve in our sort room to inspect, pack, and inventory medical supplies to be shipped globally. They help in our warehouse to pull orders and stock the shelves. Volunteers are community ambassadors who share our story and invite others to join us, as future volunteers and supporters.

Volunteers have 28,000,000 other reasons why they’re here. Each year, Mission Outreach shipments reach hospitals across the world. Last year we completed 125 orders of critically needed medical supplies and equipment to partners in Africa, Central/South America, Asia, and Ukraine. Our recipient hospitals and clinics, in some of the poorest areas globally, provide quality clinical care to 28,000,000 people.

Each of those reasons is a person, somewhere in the world, whose life may depend on the clinical care they need. That’s why our volunteers give their time and talent to Mission Outreach.

• It’s for the mother in Tanzania who survives a difficult delivery because her nurse had a working fetal monitor to guide vital decisions during labor that saved both mother and baby. 
• It’s for the child in Honduras who now sees clearly because of a pediatric surgical clinic operated by a medical mission team and supplied by Mission Outreach.
• It’s for the man in Ukraine who needs his infusions to fight cancer – he’s close to the frontline of the war and can’t flee the violence. His local hospital receives medical equipment and supplies from Mission Outreach to keep operations going.

All these patients, and millions more, depend on Mission Outreach to put high-quality medical supplies and equipment in the hands of their local healthcare providers. Dedicated, committed volunteers make that connection possible, empowering clinicians and saving lives every day. From all corners of the globe, thank you volunteers!

Would you like to learn more about volunteering at Mission Outreach? Contact Joe Hardwick, volunteer coordinator, at [email protected] to see how you can get involved.