Category: New Nominees

For 20 years APOPO’s scent detection rats have been detecting landmines and tuberculosis. Learn more about our work and how you can help.

The Problem

Over 60 countries are contaminated with hidden landmines and other explosive remnants of war, that cause tragic accidents and hamper communities from developing their productive land.

Meanwhile, slow and inaccurate detection methods make tuberculosis the world’s most deadly infectious disease. 10 million new people contract TB every year, 3 million go undiagnosed, and 1.8 million die from the disease.

The Solution

The APOPO scent detection rats, nicknamed 'HeroRATs', help to rid the world of landmines and tuberculosis, returning safe land back to communities for development, and freeing people from serious illness so they can get back on their feet.

We work on behalf of individuals, foundations and corporations to abolish medical debt and provide relief for those in need.

How It Works

1. Your donations allow us to purchase debt at pennies on the dollar — and forgive it, forever.
2. Using data analysis, we locate the medical debt that is most crucially in need of relief.
3. Those helped are no longer obligated to pay even a cent, and have no adverse consequences.

As medical costs rise to unspeakable levels, so does un-payable medical debt.

Medical debt has destroyed the financial stability of large segments of America’s most vulnerable communities: the sick, the elderly, the poor, and veterans. It also particularly targets the middle class, driving many families who are barely getting along into poverty.

Hurricane Dorian carved a path of devastation in the Bahamas, leaving behind catastrophic damage and affecting an estimated 76,000 people and more than 13,000 homes.

As the storm continues to move along the U.S. coast, pummeling communities with high storm surge, rain, and tornado threats, the American Red Cross is there to provide food, shelter, comfort, and hope.

Hurricane Dorian Response

More than 2,500 Red Cross disaster responders from across the country have worked with kindness and compassion to support people in threatened communities across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. In preparation for this powerful storm, 110 emergency response vehicles and 104 tractor-trailer loads full of relief supplies, including cots, blankets, and 63,000 ready-to-eat meals, were mobilized near evacuation centers and at-risk communities.

Your gift helps us support hard-hit communities in many ways

• Pre-position supplies for faster response
• Open evacuation shelters to keep people safe during the storm
• Provide shelter and food until families can return home
• Distribute water, food and relief supplies in impacted neighborhoods
• Help those who need first aid or medical care
• Give hope, help, and comfort
• Provide clean up supplies
• Assess damage in impacted neighborhoods
• Create recovery plans to get families back on their feet