Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting you. This week, here's Ryan Gorman. Thanks so much for joining us here on iHeartRadio Communities. I'm Ryan Gorman, and we have a very important conversation lined up for you for this show. I'm joined now by Thomas Tige, President and CEO of Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid organization active in all fifty states and more than eighty countries, working to improve the health and lives
of people impacted by poverty or emergencies. You can learn more and help support the work they do at direct relief dot org. Thomas, thank you so much for coming on the show, and of course in a bit we're going to spend some time on your efforts right now in Hawaii helping those affected by the deadly wildfires on the island of Maui. But where I want to start is at the very beginning. Tell us about how Direct Relief was first created
and the idea behind it. Well, thank you very much, Ryan's pleasure to be with you and Direct Relief. You know, I think you give a great overview, but it's roots for really going back to World War two, and what's now direct relief was initially the efforts of business. Two businessmen who were had to flee the war in Europe and found themselves as war immigrant
refugees in California, and they had been done well in Europe. I think the founder was an industrialist that Adolf Hitler tried to recruit, you know, as he was rising to power, because he was an industrialist and the Nazi Party was a national socialist industrialist party, and he tried to recruited this man called William Zimden, who then famously at the time said what a complete fool of a person is about Hitler. So good call historically, but you know,
put him on the enemy's list, which is what led him to become to flee to California. So the idea that drove which now direct relief was a business war immigrants who was looking at his at Europe just bombed out, tried to sort of use his own money and people like himself, you know who the people there needed what you know, business has made. But it wasn't a very attractive place for business. But he this was before the time
of corporate social responsibility. It was an idea, but his approach was to call other companies and tell them that, look, I'm putting my own money. These people need help. The wars over and what they need you do. But so you're not going to lose a sail there because there's not not a lot of money, But why don't you help because you can and you can operate at scale, and it's good. It's a good thing for you, it's a good thing for the people, it's a good thing for the
world. So that idea kind of born in those times is really what's been part of direct belief ever since. How do we invite the participation of regular people who cared just as much about the world as people in government and find a way to channel all the talent and resources that exist privately for the public benefit for people who are born into tough circumstances or find themselves in tough circumstances
because of an emergency. Many times it's both the people who find themselves in an emergency and the toughest situations are the people who have the least to begin with, and they tend to stuff with them. So I think over the years, directly it focuses on health specifically, and we have particular accreditation to
handle prescription medications. We work with many of the manufacturers, if not most of them, around the world to remind them that not everyone who could benefit from their products shows up on their sales forecast because they just happen to be poor. So so I think that's what we're trying to do, encourage the
participation of private people and businesses for the public benefit and health. And you know, with these kind of the moment we're in now, with or in these historic types of kind of cataclysmic events, there's a real need for everyone to do what they can in a thoughtful, productive way makes it more efficient.
And I think it's it's a we know that we can solve many of these problems, and we do them every day for business reasons, but I think it's important to apply some of those same tools in learnings to things that aren't necessarily business problems, but they're they're human problems. So I think that's what Directly finds itself trying to do in response to events and just the circumstances that many people find themselves in. And how much has this organization and the
need grown over the past few decades. I think it's now the largest channel for humanitarian medical systems in the world, which is kind of weird to even say, but I think that's it's been an evolution looking at how businesses have evolved and how important distribute. Its function of distribution is powered by technology. We were seeing as a nonprofit what organizations like Amazon or Costco we're doing. They're just very efficient, they operate at scale and they have good controls,
and then thinking gosh, we should do that. These tools work, and they work at scale, and they allow for precision, which is important if you're handling drugs. So I think now the past few years it's been about two billion dollars of medical material flowing through direct relief and there no charge to the people on the other end to make sure that they have what they need and can't afford. And so that's grown from much smaller in the prior decades.
Are started nineteen forty eight, so it's seventy five years old. But the growth is it's doubled in the past five years, in part because we have a capacity to handle it and the world needs it, and so it's been a privilege for us to step up and and do whatever we can and
with kind of keen sensitivity is staying out of politics. We're a political we don't have a religious affiliation, so we love everybody, you know, and I think it's important, particularly in a kind of a noisy time, in a politically intense time, not to be about that, just to kind of stick to focus on helping people who find themselves are born into tough circumstances or
find themselves in tough circumstances which can happen to any one of us. So try to, you know, work fast, and work smart, and work efficiently, but with great sensitivity for people who respect for the people who we are providing assistance to. And that's been the approach for seventy five years, and it seems the basics seems to seem to hold true even as circumstances change.
I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Thomas Time, President and CEO of Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid orzation active all across the country and all across the world. You can learn more and offer your support for the work they do at direct Relief dot org. You've been serving as president and CEO since October of two thousand. How did you get into this line of work? Well, you know, it wasn't a conscious choice. I think like many of us, I always admire people who say I always wanted to be a dentist
and they are a dentist now and they love it. But I think for me it was and I went to law school, which was interesting, but not at the moment particularly fulfilling as a career choice. So I joined the
Peace Corps. Was a Peace Corps volunteer for a few years in Thailand, and after that I ended up working in Washington, DC on Capitol Hill as a lawyer in the US Senate on a committee, and then I became the chief operating officer of the Peace Corps, and that preceded me coming to Direct relief and the Peace Corps, you know, the resources mayor can people who volunteer to go serve overseas to help and learn and kind of promote goodwill and
also to do important work. And Direct Relief was kind of the flip side of that, which was people who are already trained and know how to do certain things in healthcare, but don't have the means to buy the material, either the diagnostic equipment, or have the medicines to diagnose and treat the patients. So it was in retrospect it looked much like much more of a straight line than it was at the time. But I think the kind of the I was an army brat, so you know, grew up in My father
was killed in Vietnam. So I think that motion of public service was one of those dimensions that was always present in our lives as a family. And so I think this has been a way to do public service, both in government but also increasingly public service, and so much good work for the public benefit is done privately by you know, nonprofit organizations around the country, and
they care deeply about their people and their communities. And you know, sometimes we end up looking only with government officials do and say they kind of define the terms. But I don't think it's true that people in government are even
elected people care more about this country than the citizens do. So I think it's nice to have an opportunity, just as a regular person to do things that are good for people, the kind of things you learn in the second grade and if somebody needs to help them, and don't make it about something
else. And so it's a much bigger version of that. But I think that's been really important as we've seen with COVID, in these big historic events that even overwhelmed governments sometimes and there's no government in the world, Ryan, who has the reach that iHeartRadio does. I mean, just put it that way. I mean, just how much things have evolved, and I think just the technology and the networking that exists, and so to apply those kind
of modern tools to difficult problems makes a lot of sense to me. And it's really a privilege to be part of a team that gets up and does that every day. You just mentioned the COVID nineteen pandemic, and that's where I wanted to go anyway, because what came to light during that pandemic were issues within the global cold chain network. And I'm sure a lot of people don't really know what that means, what that is, but this has apparently
become a big focus for your organization, Direct Relief. Can you tell us about that, inform us on what that issue is and what you're working to do to address it, right thank, You know, it's really important, somewhat obscure point that people wouldn't normally think about, but so much things like insulin, for example, that is important for people with diabetes to maintain their
health. When it's manufactured and it's distributed, has to stay in a controlled temperature, and it's like it refrigerated from the point of the time it's manufactured to the time it actually gets to a patient. And we Direct Relief manages the largest flow of charitable insulin in the world. So we are acutely sensitive to the making sure that the products that are donated by the manufacturers as they're
transported, they maintain their integrity. They have to be specially packaged, they have to stay in refrigeration, packaged and then stored upon receipt at the destination. And we knew just from that experience that in developing countries, in many places, in rural areas, they're just as an adequate cold storage basically refrigeration, but with very good controls. Think of like an ice cream vendor, right, I mean, it's kind of the pharmaceutical version of that. And
that's just not the case in many places. And so and also the reliability of power in many places is not strong, including increasingly even in the United States at times as the grid gets so much pressure. So we were when we saw that covid arise and the solution to that was a vaccination and the vaccines themselves not only had to be cold, that they had to be kept ultra cold. That first of one we heard minus seventy degrees. We thought that the science is amazingly in it, uh you know, fast, but
the distribution is going to be compromised. So we had leaned into it just to kind of build out the cold chain capacity, which is really kind of the chain of custody of how for medical products flow from a manufacturer, particularly in rural areas and in lower income countries. And COVID just put that a very kind of stark relief. It shown a light trying to light on kind
of the capacity limitation. So we've continued to work on that because we see it all the time on a day to day basis, and trying to make sure there's adequate cold pharmaceutical grade storage and transportation channels so that these breakthroughs that are incredible, I mean for cancer in biologic therapies, it's amazing what science is doing in medicine. And if we don't solve that problem, no person who lives in a lower income country where they don't have this capacity will benefit
from these advances in science. Just because the pathway isn't built and we know how to do that. We know how to do refrigeration. It does take
power, but you know, which is a challenge. So that's what we've been trying to lean into on an ongoing basis, that direct relief, trying to make sure that how can we build a network in particularly places where it's not really attractive from a business perspective, so that as a philanthropy we can put the money in there, make sure the storage capacity is there, the transportation channels are well understood, and there's available power increasingly through solar power and
backup batteries that will stay intact even if the grid goes down, which you know we've seen again and again from Puerto Rico to even most recently in Hawaii. So I think it's important we now have other alternatives to power the refrigeration necessary to maintain the integrity of the so called cold chain for medical products. So that's sorry if that was too long, but it's very close to it.
And yeah, and it's sort of probably there's analogies to other industries, but you know, I think it's we do it well commercially if there's a business reason to do it, it will get done. I think the dilemma is that if it's not a drive, if there's not a strong business reason, yeah, profitability, who's gonna what's the rationale to do it? Who's going to put up the money? That is why you have philanthropic actors. It's because it's not a good business decision. It doesn't mean it's still not
a good decision for people. And so that's what we've been trying to do and lean in to build out that cold chain capacity around the world. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Thomas Tige, President and CEO of Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid organization active in all fifty states and more than eighty countries, working to improve the health and lives of people impacted by poverty or emergencies. Again, you can learn more and help support the work they do at direct
Relief dot org. That's Direct Relief dot organ In just a few moments, will get to their efforts taking place right now in Hawaii following those deadly wildfires on the island of Maui. Another crisis though that I wanted to talk to you about that we've been dealing with in this country for quite some time.
Now the opioids tell us about the work you're doing in that area. I think again, I think what we've most of what we do in the United States is working with the network of nonprofit community health centers and free and charitable clinics. And you know it's interesting, right in the US, there's only about under fifty five hundred hospitals, right, so, and you think of
hospitals is where you get healthcare, and they're really not. I mean, really hospels are essential, but they're typically for when you get really sick, we're really hurt or injured, right, But otherwise you want to have access to health services at primary care levels so you have your routine checkups and they can see things. So I think that this network of nonprofit community health centers that we're initiated in the mid sixties, there's over fourteen thousand of them and
they take care of about thirty million people in this country. Those who really don't have other options are access to other private insurance or private providers. So I think they're typically in medically underserved areas. Their patients are much more diverse than the general US population, lower wealth, lower income, and high challenges
and a lot of all the challenges that everyone has and then some. So I think that's where direct Leaf has worked, and we're trying to make sure that we focus on strengthening the access to things that their patients and healthcare providers need. So in the US, that's been our focused trying to work from the grassroots up. And it's sort of important for emergencies because people who rely on those community health centers because they have low incomes, also are more vulnerable
when something bad happens. So it's really important for us to continue to keep those folks strong, and they're a good signal. So with respect to opioid abuse, I think we got early signals that both for the opioid addiction and including fentanyl, and so we had become the distributor for some of the loxone, really the principal distributor for much of the charitable in lockxone in the country,
and we're trying both to maintain that flow. I think it's it's becoming more accessible now with the change of how it's how restricted it is, but I think it's it's just this horrible plague and the medications is their opiates are
so highly addictive in the killia, particularly as fentanyl. So I think having access to the ANTII overdose medications then loxone, which Fiser contributed millions of doses of that, and we distributed to the network of these thousands of community health centers and that's where the rubber hits the road and a lot of lower income communities and they're deeply dedicated and we want to continue to do that and help them get in front of it because they do have trust of the patients.
They're based on these communities, and but it's just kind of an unfolding tragedy and we're hopeful there's you know, just having more medicine isn't going to solve the problem. That's deeply rooted, highly addictive, and there are people who have an incentive to sell the sort of stuff that's highly addictive illegally. But
I mean the role that we play with is a public health crisis. I think what philanthropy and direct relief in particular can do is make sure that those treatment medications for combating an overdose, and then financial support for the groups who know what to do to get people, you know, on a path whether they're not addictive and can get back to having a productive life. I'm Ryan
Gorman, joined by Thomas Time, President and CEO of Direct Relief. You can find out more about this organization at direct relief dot org, including work they're doing in Hawaii in the aftermath of the awful and deadly wildfires that have taken place on the island of Maui. So, Thomas, let me ask you about the work you're doing there. Step us through how this process unfolds for your organization. The wildfires break out, it's a huge, huge disaster
and humanitarian issue. How do you step in and what are you doing on the ground there in Maui. Yeah, I think it's it's just such a heartbreaking, devastating loss to a beautiful place and just a loss of life. I think you know we're doing a lot, but I just wanted to acknowledge everything we do it's with a heavy heart and this is just deeply troubling for
the kind of the heart of Hawaiian culture. But our response typically in Hawaii, as it often is, is checking in with people we are already working with, and thankfully we had already been working with a community health center on Maui. There's really two that's a native Hawaiian Community Health Center that whose patients are primarily needive Hawaiians, and then System Mali Community Health Center, which also has a lot of Native Hawaiian people, but served folks who don't have other
options. So we checked in with them. They were affected and were swinging into gear and really ask how can we help. We've been through similar situations because we're in California with wildfires, and I think people may have forgotten but into the deadliest wildfire in one hundred years until Maui was in California in Paradise five years ago, and it was the same thing we did there. We saw people had to flee, people tragically lost their lives. So we've been
working ever since the fires saying how can we help. But here's what we've seen previously in a mass evacuation, people who have to flee, and they have to flee without the medications that keep them healthy, like insulin. If you have diabetes, they may get out of the harms way in the near term, but within two or three days, if they have a chronic condition
that becomes unmanaged, it can become acute health crisis. So I think we've been working with the local groups on Maui and then at the state level and even nationally to say here's what we've seen. This has all unique characteristics because it's on an island, it's a very concentrated acute crisis within a particular area,
but the ritical effect is strong. So we've been providing medications for respiratory, for insulin for people who are evacue weighted and may have their typical source cut off, and just basic chronic medications as well as the first aid kits in working with the Maui Search and Rescue teams who are volunteers and buy their own gear. So I think we work with the search and rescue teams in many places in California. They play an important role, so providing funding to
them, medications and supplies to the frontline health providers. And the other great Hawaiian group that we've worked with as a group called Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies, and their particular focus is on helping women have a safe delivery and taking care of their children. So they were the first actually medical team to arrive in Lahina on the Thursday after the fire by boat and jet ski. Kind of midwives who are intensely focused on making sure that women who are pregnant or
had little kids were looked after specifically. So I think that's going Our approach start with the local people and key off of them because they know best, and people trust them because they live there, and you know, it's a tight knit culture Hawaii is it is in many places, and there's levels of distrust for outsiders and understandably, says so we are basically a support organization trying
to make sure that resources are available to the people who live there. And we'll live there and have the biggest stake in how the response and recovery is done. So we continue to keep the pipeline of supplies and medications and financial support to the local groups as best we can. And then things that have been just fortunate for us. There's a private membership air shottle called Rome Air Maui and they offered their private aircraft to ferry both people and material to Maui
and it's been a wonderful contribution to the assistant effort so far. Kind of an example of how the private folks can move a little bit faster because we're smaller. There's big wheels of government. They go far when they start turning but it takes a little bit of time for those big wheels to start turning.
So since the event, I mean within a couple of days, we had both people and material on the ground and medications in the shelters that were being set up, and our focus is still on a near term but with recognition there's a massive rebuilding and recovery effort. But for now it's just those
who were able to get out safely. Let's make sure they're taking care of and the resources are available, and also provide support so that they can find the people who've died and and bury them with respect and consistent with the cultural traditions. It's just that the enormous pull as a humanitarian issue, it's in
a personal issue. It's just deeply saddening. So we try to just step gently and respectfully and provide the support as we did in Paradise, California, five years ago when they had at that time the most deadly wildfire event in a hundred years. Now, the two most deadly wildfire events in the US in the hundred years are within five years, so I think unfortunately going through
it, it's tragic. You learned something from it, and we've been able to put the teams from the hospitals and the clinics from Paradise, California in touch with the folks in Maui and that's been helpful for us to make that connection as well. And the search and rescue teams as well from the county affected Dike County in California and Maui Search and Rescue. We're able to make that connection. They're talking and we're providing financial support to Maui Search and Rescue
and will continue to do that going forward. So, now knowing the work that you're doing in response to the deadly wildfires on the island of Maui, for those who want to help, maybe want to get involved with the work that you're doing at Direct Relief. And we've been talking for about twenty seven minutes now, we've just scratched the surface of all the work you're doing across
the country and around the world. What are some different ways that people can help support your organization and become a part of the vital work that you're doing. I think the website the best place that we have more than anyone any normal person would want to know about directly because we've got seventy five years or so. But I think with Hawaii specifically, you know Directly is in one lane, but there's so many other important lanes like the rebuilding and reconstruction and
animal care things that Directly does not do. So I think in general, if people are concerned, we always look for who's the local group that's going to be there in five years, and that's what we do. That's what Direct Leaf is doing with its resources, and that's a good kind of kind of rule of thumb. If you see any place that's affected. It takes a little bit of time. The groups that Direct Leaf is working with r
on our website at direct leot Order. But I think it's just great if anyone wants to help find a good cause, make sure they're a legitimate charitable organization and do what you can. So yeah, I think in general, I'm sensitive because I think we're a support organization and I'm close to what we do, but I know ultimately it's people want to help people on Maui, and there are other groups that are also doing important work in Maui, and
those are findable either three Direct Relief or other sources. And the media has been very good at identifying the Hawaiian groups that may otherwise be overlooked because they're not nationally prominent in many ways, but that's who everyone should be looking to support these days. And again, the website is direct relief dot org and right there at the top of the website you'll see Hawaii fires and then you can scan through again so many of the other efforts under way on the part
of Direct Relief, Ukraine relief, hurricane relief. We're in hurricane season now. Hopefully that doesn't end up being a huge issue that we need you for, but it's quite possible. It seems like, you know, every year there's a new area around the United States that is dealing with some kind of hurricane disaster. So you can learn more about all of that. Again at direct relief dot org. You can donate, you can find out about different
ways to get involved. Thomas Tag, president and CEO of Direct Relief, with us here on iHeartRadio Communities. Thomas, thank you so much for the work you're doing and for taking a few minutes to come on the show. We really appreciate it. That's my pleasure. Ryan, thank you so much for having me on. Of course, thanks again, and that's going to do it for this edition of iHeartRadio Communities. As we wrap things up, I want offer a big thanks to our guest, and of course to all
of you for listening. I'm your host, Ryan Gorman. We'll talk to you again real soon