Our Crowdfunding Groups
The Medical Aid Initiative (MAI) at UCLA is a student-run organization dedicated to bridging the gap between surplus and need in global healthcare. Each year, U.S. hospitals generate over two million tons of medical waste, much of which consists of unused, perfectly viable medical supplies. MAI collects these excess supplies from UCLA Health hospitals and redistributes them to global health volunteer groups, disaster relief organizations, and underserved communities worldwide.
While US hospitals produce over two million tons of medical waste each year, MAI plays a crucial role to prevent and reduce waste. MAI's ultimate goal is to help facilitate health care access for those in need through the redistribution of localized and unused medical resources. MAI follows the mission model: Sustainability, Distribution, and Awareness.
♻Sustainability – Reducing waste by salvaging and repurposing medical supplies that would otherwise be discarded.
✈︎Distribution – Ensuring that these resources are effectively delivered to organizations providing free healthcare worldwide.
☯︎Awareness – Educating communities about the critical issue of medical waste and healthcare accessibility.
This year, MAI is striving to expand our impact and accessibility by:
✅ Eliminating membership fees to make our organization more inclusive and allow more students to contribute to our mission.
✅ Enhancing our operations at the Michigan Operations Center, a UCLA Health-run warehouse in Santa Monica, to ensure efficient storage and distribution of medical supplies.
✅ Increasing global outreach, supporting even more medical missions, clinics, and disaster relief efforts worldwide.
By supporting MAI, you’re directly helping to improve healthcare access, reduce environmental waste, and empower students to take action in global health initiatives.
A donation would help us to achieve our goal of removing member fees to make access to our organization more accessible. Larger donations will be used to support new supplies and repairs for our section of the Michigan Operations Center, a UCLA Health run warehouse in Santa Monica. This would help us to ensure that items on our shelves are accessible to organizations using our supplies to help people around the world.
☆ $10-$50 – Helps us remove financial barriers for students by covering membership fees, making it easier for more volunteers to participate in our mission.
☆ $100-$500 – Supports warehouse improvements and allows us to invest in better storage solutions, ensuring supplies remain organized and accessible.
☆ $1000+ – Provides funding for new medical supplies, repairs to our operations center, and expanded distribution efforts to support medical missions across the globe.
On behalf of the Medical Aid Initiative at UCLA, thank you for supporting our mission. With your help, we can turn excess into opportunity and create a healthier, more equitable world.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE UCLA FOUNDATION'S DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS FOR DONORS
Should this fund reach the campus minimum required for the establishment of an endowment or quasi-endowment, The UCLA Foundation reserves the right to convert this fund to an endowment or quasi-endowment. Please click here to learn more about how the UCLA Foundation invests and manages its endowments.
Donate a Dollar to Show your Support for sustainability in Medicine. Every donor we get, shows our hospitals that people care about how supplies are used and do not want supplies in landfills!
This donation goes a long way in helping us to pay for organizational warehouse supplies and cleaning supplies to ensure that organizations in need of life saving supplies can get them quickly and in clean conditions.
This donation goes a long way in helping us to pay for organizational warehouse supplies and cleaning supplies to ensure that organizations in need of life saving supplies can get them quickly and in clean conditions.
This amount would help cover the annual fee that one member typically pays, helping us with our goal of making MAI more accessible to all that are interested!
This amount would help cover the annual fee that 2 members typically pay, helping us with our goal of making MAI more accessible to all that are interested!
This amount would help cover the annual fee that 4 members typically pay, helping us with our goal of making MAI more accessible to all that are interested!
This donation would allow us to purchase new tables, chairs, and make necessary repairs to our shelving to make organization and donation easier for our members!