SOS International surplus medical supplies to improve healthcare

Denise Sears, president and CEO of SOS International, leads the Louisville-based nonprofit in providing surplus medical supplies globally and locally.
Motivated by the loss of her daughter, Sears aims to prevent other mothers from experiencing similar pain by improving healthcare access.
S.O.S. has diverted millions of pounds of medical supplies from landfills, impacting over 14 million lives worldwide.
In addition to international aid, S.O.S. addresses local health inequities and supports educational healthcare training in Louisville.

The first step of Denise Sears’ inspirational journey began in her darkest hour.

Sears is currently the President and CEO for the nationally accredited SOS International, a Louisville-based nonprofit global health organization that collects and redistributes surplus medical supplies to improve healthcare access.

Headquartered in a large warehouse at 1500 Arlington Ave., S.O.S. annually delivers more than $4 million in medical supplies to developing countries, provides essential medical supplies to regions affected by disasters, both domestically and internationally, and locally supports educational healthcare training and veterinary assistance.

Even Ethan Almighty has been affected by the generosity of Supplies Over Seas. The famous Kentucky rescue dog who was abused, beaten and left for dead, received life-saving medical supplies from S.O.S. soon after he was brought into a clinic.

In addition to providing much-needed medical supplies, the nonprofit plays a role in environmental stewardship by partnering with hospitals to recover supplies and equipment that would otherwise go to landfills. Since 1993, S.O.S. has saved more than 700 tons of medical equipment and supplies from landfills.

But more than a decade before Sears took on the role of President of S.O.S., she was a mother in crisis.

In 2012, Sears’s 23 year old daughter and only child passed away after a lengthy battle with kidney disease and cancer. Sears told the Courier Journal she was searching for any glimmer of hope when she stumbled across a blog post that changed her own way of thinking and, in turn has resulted in life-saving actions stretching from Louisville’s West End to Kumasi, Ghana, on the continent of Africa.

“It was a blog written by another mother who had lost her only child, and in it she said, ‘I knew I had a choice, I could die with him or I could live for him,’ and I knew exactly what she meant,” Sears remembers. “I knew at that moment that was what I would do. I needed to live in the love that I shared with my daughter Lauren, and that meant preventing other mothers from knowing that pain.”

At the time of Lauren’s death, Sears was a single mother living in New York City, where she worked in investment management and marketing, eventually opening her own marketing firm.

“After Lauren died, I needed a new start,” she said. “I had remarried and we moved to Louisville and I decided to try the nonprofit sector using my skillset from running a marketing company and working in banking.”

Sears embarked on her nonprofit career by working for Neighborhood House, a community center in Louisville’s West End, before she took over the position of President and CEO for SOS International in 2016.

Founded in 1993 by Dr. Norton Waterman, a local physician concerned by the environmental impact of waste created by surplus medical supplies in landfills, like Waterman, Sears saw an opportunity in S.O.S. to improve health outcomes globally but she also wanted to make a difference in her own city.

“I was excited by the international scope of the work, but working in west Louisville, I also knew what the health disparities are in our community,” she said. “So one of the first things I did was to get a national accreditation because it validated the importance of the work. I knew it would help us grow, and it would help kick this organization to the next level.”

Since taking the lead at S.O.S., Sears has helped evolve the nonprofit from its original mission of international aid to a dual focus that now includes addressing local health inequities in Louisville.

Run by a dedicated staff and an army of volunteers, S.O.S. operates through financial donations, which allow surplus medical supplies and equipment to get to those most in need.

“Internationally, we delivered a quarter of a million dollars in surplus medical supplies and equipment that elevated a clinic to a full hospital with a labor and delivery ward in Ghana. That resulted in reducing maternal mortality rates by 24% in just nine months,” Sears proudly explained. “Simultaneously, we’re providing free pop-up wheelchair repair and cleaning clinics locally and supporting more than 300 social service organizations and safety net clinics serving over 30,000 low income and housing insecure individuals and more than 4,000 rescue animals every year.”

In addition, expired supplies like boxes of gauze or syringes and equipment nearing the end of its usefulness are rounded up throughout the year and donated to train over 35,000 high school and adult learners in the Kentucky region.

“I’ve gotten to know Central High School students who have gone through the pre-medical magnet program using equipment and supplies we’ve provided, who have been inspired to go on to careers in healthcare,” Sears said. “Something else, we want to open a clinic for pre- and postnatal women that will be open on weekends. Many women working for an hourly wage can’t afford to take time off for doctor visits. We hope a clinic with more convenient hours will help save lives for babies and mothers.”

Whether it’s providing teaching supplies or equipment to save lives, Sears sees the world as interconnected and one in which her role is to honor her daughter by doing all she can to keep another mother from experiencing the death of a child.

Whether that’s disaster relief, basic healthcare or supporting the pipeline to future healthcare professionals, S.O.S. has changed and saved over 14 million lives by providing millions of pounds of medical supplies diverted from landfills to people and animals around the world.

“I will do everything I can to keep another mother from feeling the kind of pain I experienced,” Sears said. “When I am visiting a clinic or a person we have been able to help, I can often feel Lauren’s presence. I feel like she would be very very proud.”

Reach reporter Kirby Adams at [email protected].

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