Where Can I Donate Insulin?

On the phone, my friend’s voice trembled. He was grieving his heart-of-gold, four-footed companion. Beloved, faithful Skeeter needed daily shots of human-grade insulin in her last years of life. Even in the midst of his grief, my friend wanted to honor his I-love-everybody buddy. Knowing that many here in America—and all over the world—lack access to insulin and insulin supplies, he wanted to know: how can I pass along her unused insulin supplies to those in need?

At that time, I didn’t know the answer. I reached out to other diabetics… he reached out to his vet… but no one we spoke to seemed to know. Ultimately, the insulin was disposed of, not passed along to a person a need.

The question stayed with me.

Thousands of people around the world suffer and die for lack of insulin. Globally, over 100 million of us depend on insulin for our survival. According to a 2015 report by Health Action International, half of people who require insulin to survive cannot reliably obtain it.

The cost of insulin relative to average income can be staggering: insulin can cost up to 56% of income in Kenya, 77% in Syria, 82% in Brazil, and 80% in Fiji. In rural Mozambique, the life expectancy of a child diagnosed with type-1 diabetes is less than 8 months (Beran et al, 2005, Diabetes Care).

Finally, today, I tripped over the answer to my friend’s question: where can I donate? Dang, I thought, why did that take me so long?

The non-profit Insulin For Life collects in-date insulin, test strips, glucagon kits, and other diabetes supplies, and distributes them, free of charge. IFL brings millions of crucial medical supplies—your donations—around the globe, keeping children alive in over 70 countries. Well-known and well-vetted, IFL is highly rated by other diabetes organizations. Patient advocate David Mendosa calls IFL his favorite diabetes charity. Here in the US we can donate to Insulin For Life USA which distributes over 100,000 ml of insulin and 600,000 glucose test strips annually.

The Jared Kuper Foundation is another vetted US organization that distributes insulin supplies, among its other diabetes advocacy work.

I also stumbled onto Facebook’s ‘Diabetics Pay It Forward USA,’ which describes itself as distributing donated diabetic supplies to those in need. Sounds promising, but I confess I did zero research on this organization, so if interested you should do a bit yourself.

Of course, it’s always great to think locally. You may have a local free medical clinic, charity pharmacy, medically-supported homeless shelter, etc., that can redistribute insulin supplies right in your home town.

Since insulin can be dangerous if used incorrectly, for everyone’s sake, you want to give to a well-vetted organization.

Bottom line: you can’t go wrong with Insulin For Life. And, if you’ve accumulated enough knick-knacks and kitchen gadgets for the moment, consider putting Insulin For Life on your Holiday wish list—and this season, receive an irreplaceable warm glow.