Project C.U.R.E.

Students at participating schools gather supplies and write notes of support on the backpacks. Thomason is now the community outreach and Kits for Kids program director at Project C.U.R.E. She stresses the importance of community involvement, particularly in Katy.

“Katy volunteers have engineering backgrounds [to fix equipment],” she said.

There are also a high percentage of medical workers to help identify donated materials, she said.

The sorting room contains shelves of boxes and bins labeled with sheets of paper indicating ventilator tubing, endoscopy supplies, sterile drapes, skin-cleansing supplies and tens of other supply types.

“We may get a pallet of donated supplies and no idea what’s inside—that’s where our volunteers with medical backgrounds are so helpful,” Thomason said.

Project C.U.R.E. is run almost entirely by volunteers. The Houston distribution center has only one paid employee—a warehouse manager. Everyone else, including Thomason, is a volunteer. The 2014 annual report shows only 2 percent of the budget went toward administrative costs.

The group has earned high ratings for efficiency from GuideStar and Charity Navigator, and Forbes ranked it one of the 20 most efficient large U.S. charities.

Thomason said the distribution center is always in need of volunteers and donations.

“Say you broke your leg and you saved the crutches—all of that can be repurposed. If grandma has an old walker or wheelchair, there are people who can use that,” she said.

8251 Kempwood Drive, Houston 832-251-2489 www.facebook.com/projectcurehouston Donation drop-off: Tue.-Fri. 9 a.m.-2 p.m.