Frequently Asked Questions
Your congregation can change lives by assembling caregiver kits.
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1. Who receives Caregiver Kits?
Caregiver Kits are given to family members and local volunteers around the world who are providing compassionate support to people living with AIDS. Hardworking volunteers offer physical and emotional support to affected households in their communities, while family members — many of them children — sacrifice everything to care for sick mothers, fathers, and other relatives. Many of these courageous caregivers lack the basic supplies they need to safely and effectively minister to the sick.
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2. What is the purpose of a Caregiver Kit?These kits are full of basic supplies that can improve and prolong the lives of those living with AIDS while protecting caregivers and preventing the spread of infection. Each kit will bring joy to a caregiver and have an immeasurable impact in a community.
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3. What countries will receive the kits?
World Vision is currently sending kits to countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America that are able to receive Gift-in-Kind (GIK). These include:
Africa: Burundi, Chad, DR Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Asia: Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam
Latin America: Dominican Republic, Haiti
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4. How will they get there?
Kits are assembled by churches, companies, philanthropic groups and schools. Once the kits are assembled, packed up and ready to go, World Vision schedules a pick-up at the event location. The kits are sent to either our distribution center in Denver or Pittsburgh, where they will be packed for international shipping. They will then be trucked to port where they will be loaded and shipped overseas. Once they pass through customs, they will be trucked to the multiple nations where World Vision offices are located. The entire process takes approximately 3-6 months.
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5. How much do the kits cost to put together?
When ordering in bulk, the cost per kit is $28 plus your local sales tax. This price includes all domestic and international shipping and handling. World Vision will coordinate the bulk purchase of kit contents through our partnership with McKesson Corporation, a health-care services company. This partnership allows the total cost of the kits to be substantially lower than retail pricing. Kit contents will be shipped directly to the location indicated so that on the scheduled “assembly day” the groups can assemble the kits together. World Vision places this order with McKesson about 3 weeks before the event.
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6. Are there benefits to ordering in bulk versus buying products on my own?
Ordering products in bulk is ideal for groups assembling 20 or more Caregiver Kits. According to unanimous feedback from Event Coordinators like you, buying products in bulk is preferred for the following reasons:
1. It is significantly cheaper than purchasing products at a local drug-store.
2. The shipping charges are included in the cost per kit. When purchasing on your own, you have to raise an additional $5 per kit to cover domestic and international shipping.
3. It allows you to include two additional medicines that are extremely needed: anti-diarrheal and pain reliever.
4. You can re-use the cardboard boxes that the kit cases are delivered in to pack up and ship out your assembled Caregiver Kits. When you buy your own products, you have to come up with your own shipping boxes.
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7. If I am assembling less than 20 kits and buying products on my own, may I include the medicines?
Unfortunately, strict customs regulations prohibit us from allowing these medicines in non-bulk kits. However, non-bulk kits are perfect for the “sensitive” countries we send kits to. These sensitive countries will not allow the medicines anyway, so we ship the non-bulk kits to these countries.
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8. Is it okay to include additional products in the kits like extra washcloths, batteries, etc?
Especially with bulk orders it can be common to end up with some extra product. In this case, it’s ideal to include these additional supplies in the shipping boxes when you ship the assembled kits out. Please do not add additional product to the kits themselves. We will use these additional items to complete other kits that are missing product when they reach our distribution centers. Sometimes groups want to add items to the kits that are not on the contents list, but we cannot accept any additional items because they have not been approved or accounted for in customs.
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9. Is it possible to designate my kits to the country of my choice?
Each of the countries has requested various numbers of Caregiver Kits. We will meet the greatest needs first and send kits to all of the countries simultaneously. In unique situations, when more than 1000 kits have been built our Gift-in-Kind team might be able to send them to a specific country with prior approval. Due to the logistical constraints involved, we cannot always tell you where your kits have ended up.
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10. How long does a Caregiver Kit last?
On average, one Caregiver Kit will last for 2 to 3 months. This timeframe depends on how many clients the Caregiver treats at any given time.
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11. How do I share what my group is doing with our local media?
We have a media team who would be happy to speak with you about this process. We can also send you a press release and a media Q&A document. Send us an email at carekits@worldvision.org for more information.
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12. How long does an average kit build take?
This depends on a number of variables. Not including the time it takes to write the encouragement card, it takes an average of 3-5 minutes to assemble a kit. We recommend that each person build at least 3 kits to make it a meaningful experience (more than this is great too!)
Here are a few key questions to help you determine an estimated time on your event:
1) How many participants do you expect? Will many of those be children?
2) How many kits will you be assembling?
3) Will you have a presentation and/or guest speaker?
4) Will you have a certain area set aside for note card writing?
5) How many volunteers will be available for set-up, during and after the event?
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13. What items should I have on-hand for an assembly event other than the product and tables?
- pallet jacks (needed on a case by case basis)
- box-cutters
- packaging tape and tape guns
- shrink-wrap (only needed for assemblies of 120 kits or more)
- note cards and pens
- posters
- name tags
- projector for a presentation
- signs to direct participants
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