A Louisville based non-profit is spreading hope and health around the world by exporting surplus, left-over and under used medical supplies to impoverished communities around the globe. 

Supplies Over Seas (“SOS”) is technically known as a "medical surplus recovery organization", one of just fifteen organizations of its kind in the country and the only one in the immediate region. Under the aegis of well-known community leader Melissa Mershon, President and CEO, SOS collects surplus and under-used medical supplies from doctors, hospitals and consumers in the region. 

From its Louisville warehouse at 1500 Arlington Avenue in the Clifton neighborhood, SOS sorts, organizes, repairs and repackages the supplies and equipment for delivery to its ultimate overseas destination.  A current project in process involves repairing used crutches for reuse by children overseas. Mershon describes SOS as “the eHarmony of the medical supply community” matching need with surplus.  Her work board for 2014 identifies potential shipments to the Phillipines, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Syria, Lebanon, Ecuador, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Sengal, Mexico, Jamaica, and Jordan.

Originally organized, launched and supported by the Greater Louisville Medical Society Foundation in 1993 after encouragement by Dr. Norton G. Waterman, SOS became an independent, tax exempt, 501 c-3 organization in 2010 allowing it to extend its reach across Kentucky and into neighboring states.

SOS also supports local organizations like the Center for Women and Families by providing personal medical and hygiene supplies for residents in its shelter facilities. Without SOS, many of the unused and underused materials would end up in landfills.   Some of the recycled and expired items salvaged by SOS are donated to animal welfare organizations in the Metro Louisville area.