Want a Tax Deduction? Donate Your Used Home Health Medical Equipment on Saturday October 10

The St. Louis Health Equipment Lending Program (St. Louis HELP) seeks donations of used home health medical equipment during its community-wide equipment donation drive on Saturday October 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. All home health equipment donations are tax-deductible. Equipment can be dropped off at at 14 Walgreen’s parking lots in metro St. Louis.

“We accept donations of nearly every type of home medical equipment in working condition except oxygen and medications. We revitalize the equipment and loan it for free to anyone who needs it for as long as they need it,” said Laura Cannon-Singer, executive director of the 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization. (Website: http://stlhelp.org/).

St. Louis HELP volunteers will accept equipment donations and provide donors with a receipt for tax-deduction purposes at participating Walgreen’s locations in four metro area counties in St. Louis and Illinois. For addresses of participating locations, see St. Louis HELP’s website

Examples of home health equipment that St. Louis HELP collects, revitalizes and loans for free include:

· Wheelchairs - manual and electric

· Scooters

· Walkers, Crutches and Canes

· Shower Chairs, Shower Stools, and Tub-Transfer Benches

· Portable Commodes

· Elevated Toilet Seats

· Shower, Tub and Wall Grab Bars

· Hospital Beds

· Lift Chairs

· Stair Lifts

· Reachers and Grabbers

“Shower equipment and hospital beds are in high demand -- we loan at least six hospital beds per week,” said Cannon-Singer, who founded St. Louis HELP in 2008.

In 2014, a total of 245 people donated 943 different items during the drive, said Cannon-Singer. All items were taken to St. Louis HELP’s warehouse in Olivette for cleaning and refurbishing before being loaned. Any person, caregiver or family that wants to borrow home health equipment for free can call St. Louis HELP at (314) 567-4700 for arrangements.

“There is a huge need in the community for the home medical equipment that we provide and we are always working to restock our inventory of donated items,” she said, adding, “Nothing goes to waste. We divert about 140 tons of used medical equipment from going into landfills every year. Good parts of broken equipment are used to repair other equipment. Broken wooden crutches are recycled via a tree chipping company.”

In 2014, St. Louis HELP received a prestigious “Point of Light Award” from Points of Light, the volunteer management organization founded in 1990 in response to President George Bush’s call for volunteer community service.

For more information, call (314) 567-4700 or see the website http://stlhelp.org/.

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