The Christmas season, now in full swing, is a time for giving and sharing the abundance of our lives with those we love and those in need.

We understand there are many worthy charities asking for your help this time of year. There are countless ways to give to help those less fortunate. Before you make a gift, we encourage you to do your homework to make sure your generosity does the most good.  

For 64 years, we have put stewardship at the forefront of our mission and valued transparency and integrity in our finances.

MAP has been known as an organization that delivers quality medicines to those in need with remarkably low overhead. Last year, we helped 14.3 million people by providing millions of healing doses of medicines. We did this all with a staff of fewer than 50 people in our U.S offices and global distribution center.

We can tell you we are good stewards.  However, we want to earn your trust so we open our finances to the scrutiny of independent agencies such as Forbes, the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance and GuideStar.

Consider the most recent achievements in the area of good stewardship:

• GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency

This year MAP earned the 2018 Platinum GuideStar Nonprofit Profile Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar, the world’s largest source of nonprofit information. By sharing metrics that highlight progress MAP is making toward its mission, GuideStar is helping donors move beyond simplistic ways of nonprofit evaluation such as overhead ratios.

“In accordance with our long-held belief in being transparent about our work, we are excited to convey our organization’s results in a user-friendly and highly visual manner.

By updating our GuideStar Nonprofit Profile to the Platinum level, we can now easily share a wealth of up-to-date organizational metrics with our supporters as well as GuideStar’s immense online audience, which includes donors, grantmakers, our peers, and the media.” Steve Stirling, President, MAP International

To reach the Platinum level, MAP added extensive information to its Nonprofit Profile on GuideStar:  detailed organizational information; in-depth financial information; qualitative information about goals, strategies, and capabilities; and quantitative information about results and progress toward its mission. By taking the time to provide this information, MAP has demonstrated its commitment to transparency and to giving donors and funders meaningful data to evaluate MAP. View our profile here.

• Forbes magazine "America’s Top Charities"

For 19 years, Forbes magazine has presented its list of the 100 largest charities in the US. MAP International ranks #21 on the list of nonprofits that are evaluated on various financial efficiency metrics. You can view MAP’s profile here.

We value all gifts made to MAP and are committed to the highest standards of stewardship and transparency. Did you know all donations made to MAP by December 31 will be matched and will double? What a terrific way to stretch your donation and feel certain your gift has been carefully vetted by industry experts.

You can throw a rock from almost any street corner in America and hit a drugstore. While that may be a bit of an exaggeration, finding a CVS, Walgreens, or other pharmacy isn’t difficult. In fact, according to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, 90 percent of Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy.

But could you imagine if you didn’t live within 20 miles of a pharmacy? How about 100 miles? How about if there was no pharmacy at all within three days of your home?

This is what Dr. Harold Mayweather encountered on a medical mission trip to Jinya, Uganda. Traveling with faithful servants from the nonprofit, The Soul of My Footprint, the team spent two days in a village outside Jinya where there was no health clinic and no drugstore.

Upon arrival, they discovered a town “where healthcare does not exist,” according to Dr. Mayweather. His team of two physicians, five nurses and four pharmacy techs set to work providing a temporary medical clinic and pharmacy. For 48 hours they tended to nearly 300 infants, children, and adults with ailments ranging from mild to severe. Each was so grateful to see a doctor or nurse.

His team set-up a temporary pharmacy (watch their video here). Slowly villagers ventured in, collecting medicines and health supplies provided once, maybe twice a year. Imagine suffering through routine ailments with no medicine or ways to improve your condition for days or longer.

“We all brought along medical supplies, but the bulk of the supplies were from MAP International. The MAP Rx pack helped so many! It's hard to put into words how much it did.” Dr. Harold Mayweather

Medicines are not readily available in all parts of the world. Its hard to fathom, but for many people in resource-poor communities, medications and health supplies are a luxury.

This holiday season, will you help us provide more medicines to more people worldwide?

Generous donors to MAP will DOUBLE all donations between now and December 31. Your gift will have twice the impact and help more doctors like Dr. Mayweather treat more people with medicines from MAP.

“We will go back next year in September. I will need your help and hope that you are willing and able to assist us again,” Dr. Mayweather said.

Help us help Dr. Mayweather and his team of brave medical missionaries.  

The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season mercifully ended today.

Hopefully you were not among those severely impacted by the most destructive storms - Michael and Florence.  However, millions were left homeless or without power for weeks. Many may never return home.

Can you imagine losing everything? What if you couldn’t get to a pharmacy for a critically-needed prescription? Or to a store for basic health supplies? The fear and loss many residents experienced before, during, and after these events is unfathomable.

However, because of your support of MAP International, many of them now know someone cares about their well-being, someone they have never met. It is because of you, MAP was able to apply its years of experience in disaster relief and provide a ray of hope amidst such despair.

Good stewardship goes beyond just using donor gifts wisely today.

MAP views stewardship as multi-generational. As a critical source for medicines such as antibiotics in the poorest communities on earth, it is imperative that we safeguard the effectiveness of these life-changing medicines for future generations.

This week we are recognizing World Antibiotic Awareness Week.

This observance takes place every November to increase global awareness of antibiotic resistance and to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers, prescribers, and policymakers to avoid the further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance.

Growing up in South Georgia, Nicholas Booth was raised to believe it is always “better to give than to receive.” Throughout his life, Nick’s family taught him to appreciate God’s gifts, work hard and to give back to his community. He lived those virtues daily.

We are humbled by the stories we receive of health and hope from around the world. Daily we marvel at the power of life-changing medicine to bring healing to some of the poorest regions of the globe.

MAP recently received this letter from a hospital worker located in Soufriere, Haiti in the northern part of the country. Roads in this rural area are often unpaved and clogged with cars and motorbikes. They are considered dangerous to travel by and many opt to walk where they need to go.

This was the case with a young mother who, out of desperation, carried her sick 18-month old son to New Hope Hospital. This letter we received shares her story and the miracle of medicine to help the poorest of the poor:  

The little girl’s screams could be heard throughout the crowded clinic. In the seventeen days, since her first visit, Tenzin Dolma’s cries penetrated many hearts.  

This five-year-old girl made daily visits with her parents who traveled for miles through the remote, mountainous area of India.

Each day Tenzin would arrive for treatment for severe burns to her left arm.  She was scalded by boiling water atop an indoor, open fire stove.

Her parents brought her to the heavily crowded clinic in Zanskar, where hundreds of residents signed up for care each day. They desperately hoped someone could help their daughter. 

Dulce Maria is an excellent student. She never misses school and at just 10 years old, she is mature beyond her years.

That’s why it surprised her teacher when she had a hard time paying attention in class and began to rest her head on her desk. Soon it became apparent that Dulce Maria was very ill.

“I touched her forehead and she was hot to the touch. She said her head and throat hurt,” said her teacher, Edna Galicia. “But despite her illness, she did not want to miss school.”

Dulce Maria lives in a rural area of the Guatemalan municipality of San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán.

During the week, her mother works in a nearby town processing sugar cane, so she lives with her grandmother. But her grandmother has no cell phone and the nearest clinic is a three-hour walk away. Her grandmother watched her growing more and more ill, but there was nothing she could do.

Finally, her teacher alerted Dr. Mayra Franco at the town clinic about Dulce Maria’s condition. Dr. Mayra, as she prefers to be called, spends most mornings in the clinic and then makes “house calls” during the afternoons to the citizens living in outlying rural areas. So Dr. Mayra made the long journey to check on Dulce Maria.

“When I examined her, it was clear she was very, very sick,” says Dr. Mayra. “She had a severe case of strep throat that had gone untreated for quite a while.”

Without treatment, strep can turn into rheumatic fever, causing long-term damage to a child’s heart and lungs. It is the leading cause of heart damage for children in developing countries.

Fortunately, Dr. Mayra had recently received pediatric antibiotics from MAP International, in partnership with Food for the Poor. The antibiotics were exactly what she needed to help treat Dulce Maria’s condition.

“She started to feel better in just a few days,” says her grandmother. “I am so very grateful to God and those who made it possible for Dulce Maria to receive this free medicine,” she says.

“Many of us here are very poor,” she continued. “But we love our children and want the best lives for them. I am so glad that Dulce Marie feels better and can study again. She loves school.”

Recently Mayor Jeaneth Ordonoz visited Dulce Maria’s school. When the children were asked, “Who wants to be mayor one day?”Dulce Maria’s hand shot up and her eyes sparkled.

Thanks to the antibiotics you helped MAP supply, Dulce Maria may one day make her dream come true. 

Edna Paz, her husband and five children, live in a poor rural area of Guatemala. Unemployment is high and her husband works whenever he can find an odd job. Edna feels fortunate to have regular employment as a domestic worker. She earns about $13/week—the only regular income her family can expect.

But recently Edna had to miss work and risk losing her job because her daughter, Karen, was seriously ill. Just six-years-old, Karen loves school and continued going to classes even when she had a fever. But every day she became more ill. Her head hurt and her ear ached so much that she cried out in her sleep.

One day she woke up with blood coming from her ear.

Hurricane Michael roared across the Florida panhandle leaving behind a swath of destruction of historic proportions. The death toll has grown to 19, and more than 435,000 homes are still without power. First responders are still assessing the damage in many communities.

Panama City Beach had never experienced a storm as powerful as Michael. The hurricane left the city in shambles. Both local hospitals were severely damaged. Those who did not evacuate or left a car behind lost their vehicle when Michael slammed ashore. Their ability to reach a physician, or a pharmacy to get medication has been hampered. Could you imagine not being able to pick up a critically-needed prescription?