Become a Pharmacist Volunteer!
Whether you volunteer locally or in a foreign country, using your pharmacy knowledge can make a huge impact in the life of someone else.    Volunteers are proud ambassadors of goodwill, not only to the patients themselves, but also to their families, communities, and homelands. Volunteers are eager to return again and again to provide life-changing help for children and adults, each service transforming into a labor of love.  I’ve tried to put together a number of opportunities for pharmacist volunteers, both locally and in foreign countries.  Each opportunity offers a fantastic experience.  The following are opportunities I am familiar with and would highly recommend.  There are many other chances to help others.  If you know of an organization that could use help, please post on CSHP website.

Flying Horse Farms: http://www.flyinghorsefarms.org/Volunteer
Flying Horse Farms is a camp for children with serious illnesses. They provide magical, transforming and fun camp experiences and serve many disease groups. Located just outside Mt. Gilead, Ohio, Flying Horse Farms is where children with serious illnesses come to experience the magic of camp. For a week at a time, being sick takes a backseat to simply being a kid. And fun is priority number one.
They could us volunteers on arrival days to check in camper medications and departure days to check out camper medications of our Residential Sessions. Here’s a list of dates:

-          July 7th  – 10th  – Transplant Camp
-          July 17th  - July 23rd – Heart
-          July 31st - August 6th  – Hematology/Oncology
-          August 14th  - August 20th  – Hematology/Oncology
-          October 28th - October 30th – Alumni Camp

In addition to using clinical skills on arrival/departure days, I’d love to have them as counselors/activity leaders. Basically, it’s entirely up to the volunteers; I place them in positions they are interested in.

Operation Rainbow: http://operationrainbow.org/learn/
A rainbow is a universal sign of hope and a reassuring promise for renewal. The patients they serve have had little or no hope for a better life. The surgical teams restore hope and bring the promise of a better life.  This is an orthopedic team traveling to third world countries.  This team was fantastic in Haiti, working miracles on the many of their patients.
Now 1,000 volunteers strong, Operation Rainbow continues its mission throughout the world by:

• Leading 6-9 humanitarian medical missions each year, which provide much-needed orthopedic intervention for children and young adults suffering from congenital abnormalities or untreated chronic injury
• Training doctors, nurses, and other staff at host hospitals, enhancing their capacity for early diagnosis, treatment, and orthopedic surgical intervention of congenital abnormalities among the vulnerable populations they serve

Medical Missions International: http://www.mmint.org/
MMI is committed to meet the need for medical care among the world's poor with lasting solutions through excellence in medicine, patient care, and health education. We do this by mobilizing volunteers on one and two-week medical projects and by establishing and equipping permanent medical centers.  A number of local physicians and pharmacists are part of this team that goes regularly to the Dominican Republic. 
MedWish: http://www.medwish.org/

Whether is helping in their huge warehouse in Cleveland or going on a short term mission, MedWish makes a huge difference in peoples’ lives while also helping our environment.  To date, MedWish has recovered over 2.2 million pounds of medical surplus from 38 hospitals throughout Northeast Ohio. In 2010 alone, MedWish saved 886,000 pounds of medical supplies from disposal, keeping this valuable solid waste out of our landfills. To imagine what that number looks like in real life, that’s the equivalent of an entire football field stacked 6 feet high with boxes of supplies! Interested in donating your medical supplies to MedWish? This is an easy way to help.  Some of our CSHP members have participated in trips like this year’s.  The medical brigade for 2011 will take place from August 1st-6th and travel to Carazo, Nicaragua.

Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland: http://thefreeclinic.org/
Volunteering is a two-way street. Our outstanding volunteers help us provide critical services to the community, but they also enjoy the opportunity to grow personally and professionally.
MEDICAL CLINIC
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – 9:30am to 3:00pm
Thursday – 11:00am to 3:00pm
• General medical services
• Specialty clinics
• Chronic care – hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and high cholesterol
• Women’s Health Services
•Education and prevention for HIV & STDs
•Family planning services and counseling
• Male & Female STDs, birth control refills
 UNTO International: http://www.untoinc.org/
Unto inc. focuses specifically in meeting education, medical, social, and spiritual needs. This is done through: team experiences, child sponsorship, community outreach, medical projects, educational programs and partnerships.  As a change in pace, a local group focuses on construction in Dominican Republic.  Workers help build schools, water treatment facilities, sidewalks, etc. every February.