Disability Pride Month: Yonkers nonprofit that collects medical supplies honors 200 special needs volunteers
YONKERS, N.Y. -- July is Disability Pride Month and a local nonprofit is celebrating its volunteers.
CBS2's Cindy Hsu has more from Yonkers, where the group is changing lives there and around the world.
Recently, there was an awards ceremony for more than 200 special needs volunteers who donate their time to the AFYA Foundation, which means "health" in Swahili.
The group collects and organizes medical supplies from U.S. hospitals that would be discarded due to tight regulations in the states. Danielle Butin is AFYA's founder.
"I mean, that's the part that's so remarkable, is every single item in this warehouse would have been thrown away, like everything," Butin said.
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Instead, the group rescues the supplies and sends them to places in dire need, such as Africa, Puerto Rico, and, right now, Ukraine.
"The reality for Ukraine right now is that the supplies we're being asked for are battlefield medicine. We're being asked for amputation kits," Butin said.
And bio-medical equipment. AFYA has already sent millions of dollars worth of supplies, and it only sends over items that are requested.
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Among the more than 3,000 volunteers who help sort all the equipment are hundreds with special needs.
"I like the people, the environment, and I like helping out people that are in need of medical supplies," volunteer Karen He said. "It's really an honor to help a lot of people."
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It's a win-win for everyone. Butin is an occupational therapist and has OT students work with volunteers.
Jimmy Kuang loves to dance and has learning disabilities. He started volunteering at AFYA six years ago and was illiterate.
"They taught me how to read and write and I know all the items that's here. I can identify them and put the lot number on them. They have four digits and they taught me how to budget," Kuang said.
After a year of volunteering, Kuang was hired to work in the warehouse.
"I felt so great. I was crying. I was calling everybody that I got a job," Kuang said.
The AFYA Foundation is funded by charitable grants.