Church member channels medical devices to people in need
By Chad Hensiak
Correspondent
For about 10 years now Our Savior Lutheran Church parishioner Gary Peterson has been collecting, organizing, and donating used medical equipment.
Classified as durable medical equipment by the health care profession, the items collected includes wheelchairs, walkers, walking casts, crutches, canes, portable commodes, and more.
“It’s very nice to be able to help the less fortunate,” Peterson said. “I find this work very enjoyable.”
Most of the medical equipment collected by Peterson comes from local independent social service agency Love Inc. The rest is collected by the church through community donations.
According to Love Inc. Administrative assistant Kyleigh Yakes, Love Inc. takes in the medical equipment through community donations and then gives it to anyone in need.
“Area hospitals even refer their patients to us to get equipment if they cannot afford to purchase their own,” Yates said.
When Love Inc. gets more equipment than it can store, they call Peterson to pick it up.
Along with medical equipment, church members also collect and donate adult diapers, blankets, and quilts handmade by the women of the church.
“A group of ladies come every Wednesdays between 9 a.m. and noon and work on the quilts,” Rev. Paul Muther, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran, said. “It is amazing how many they create. Our last shipment was well over 100.”
Just how much stuff gets collected by Peterson and the church?
“We fill up the church’s three-car garage about four times a year,” Muther said. We sort through the pieces to make sure they work well before sending them out.”
Once the church’s garage is full, they call Orphan Grain Train to pick up the items. Orphan Grain Train is a Christian volunteer network with 29 different locations across the United States collecting and shipping donated food, clothing, medical and other needed items to people in 69 different countries including America.
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