MedWish International held one of the almost 100 tables at this year’s Center for Civic Engagement and Learning Community Service Fair, a Sept. 12 event that brought local community service organizations, student-led volunteer groups and representatives from regional nonprofits.

MedWish International is a Cleveland-based non-profit organization that repurposes medical supplies and sends them to regions of the world with sub-par healthcare standards.

David Cicerchi said that the mission of MedWish is to “help relieve suffering and save lives all over the world.”

MedWish has several ongoing programs that require volunteer support. The main project involves sorting donated medical supplies and putting them into inventory, where they wait until a need arises.

MedWish’s aid programs send nearly $100,000 of supplies to conflict regions and refugee camps around the world. In the past year, MedWish has sent more than 52 shipments of medical supplies overseas.

Volunteers come from “all walks of life,” said Cicerchi. High school students, retirees and students from Case Western Reserve University are all involved.

“[CWRU] is the largest single organizer of students we have,” Cicerchi said. “In the CWRU community, MedWish is well-understood.”

MedWish recently granted CCEL the Global Leader Award, which they give to groups with the largest number of hours volunteering with the organization.

Other campus organizations that have volunteered with MedWish include fraternities like Phi Delta Epsilon and student organizations like Shadowing Case by Case.

“More and more students are interested in improving lots of things around the world,” said Cicerchi. “Health care is one of them. Students are becoming more and more globally conscious.”