Direct Relief International
 |
|
| Founded |
Santa Barbara, California, U.S. August 23, 1948 |
|---|---|
| Founder | , Dezso Karczag |
| Type | Charitable Organization |
| 95-1831116 | |
| Legal status | 501(c)(3) organization |
| Focus |
Disaster Preparedness and Relief Services Humanitarian Aid Public Health |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 34°26′14″N 119°50′36″W / 34.43734°N 119.8432121°WCoordinates: 34°26′14″N 119°50′36″W / 34.43734°N 119.8432121°W |
|
Area served
|
International |
|
Key people
|
Thomas Tighe, President and CEO John Romo, Chairman of the Board of Directors |
|
Revenue
|
$898 million |
|
Employees
|
59 full-time |
| Website | https://www.directrelief.org |
|
Formerly called
|
Direct Relief International |
Direct Relief (formerly known as Direct Relief International) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a stated mission to “improve the health and lives of people affected by poverty or emergency situations by mobilizing and providing essential medical resources needed for their care."
The organization is headed by a 31-member Board of Directors and President and CEO Thomas Tighe. Tighe came to Direct Relief from the Peace Corps, where he served as chief-of-staff and chief operating officer from 1995-2000.
In 1945, William Zimdin, an Estonian immigrant and successful businessman in pre-war Europe, began sending thousands of relief parcels to relatives, friends, and former employees in the aftermath of World War II. In 1948, Zimdin formalized his efforts with the establishment of the William Zimdin Foundation. Dezso Karczag, a Hungarian immigrant assumed management of the foundation following Zimdin's death in 1951, changed the organizations name to 'Direct Relief Foundation' in 1957. The organization assumed the name "Direct Relief International" in 1982, and "Direct Relief" in 2013.
Direct Relief was the first nonprofit organization in the United States to be designated by National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) as a Verified-Accredited Wholesale Distributor licensed to distribute pharmaceutical medicines to all 50 U.S. States and Washington, D.C.
Between 2000 - 2014, Direct Relief's operating budget averaged roughly $11 million. Over the same period, Direct Relief reported delivering more than $1.6 billion in medical resources and supplies throughout the U.S. and the world - a ratio of $36.00 in aid for each $1.00 in operating cost. Medical supplies from Direct Relief come largely through in-kind donations by hundreds of companies such as Ansell, Abbott, BD, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, and generic pharmaceutical manufacturers.
Direct Relief manages logistics and distribution through enterprise systems that include SAP, Esri, and Palantir, and with in-kind transportation support from FedEx.
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Wikipedia