Founded 90 years ago, Henry Schein is an international solutions company for healthcare professionals, particularly dental and medical offices. Henry Schein Cares, the company’s global corporate social responsibility program, discovered World Vision through their work with Partnership for Quality Medical Donations (PQMD), a global collaboration that promotes sustainable access to quality healthcare in underserved communities and populations in crisis. World Vision has been a grant recipient of Henry Schein Cares’ Global Product Donation Program (GPDP) since 2014, receiving more than $6.1 million worth of donated product like toothbrushes to distribute to children and families in need. GPDP provides a broad selection of healthcare products and supplies to community medical or dental organizations on a two-year cycle. Along with helping people in need, it also helps advance the company’s role in the circular economy by keeping thousands of tons of imperfectly packaged productsout of landfills.

Advancing health equity is one of Henry Schein Cares’ key pillars, so access to care for underserved populations and disaster preparedness and response are their focus areas in partnering with World Vision. It’s a partnership that “helps health happen” to support wellness and prevention education for communities as well as ensuring the swift availability of life-saving supplies for healthcare professionals responding to disasters.

“We believe that regardless of where someone is born, their social or economic situation, or the color of their skin, all people should have access to quality, affordable healthcare. Particularly in times of disaster, we know that vulnerable populations and communities are especially affected, and we appreciate the emergency relief support World Vision provides,” says Jennifer Kim Field, Henry Schein’s vice president of corporate social responsibility.

In 2021 Henry Schein Cares donated over $460,000 worth of product to World Vision. Depending on the needs, World Vision determines where best to use the donated product, and the majority of the support goes toward World Vision’s U.S. programs or global emergency response efforts. “We do not step into nonprofit partnerships lightly, because we want to bring longevity to our partnership to achieve mutual goals that are deep and sustained over time,” says Field. “World Vision has exceeded our expectations as a partner in their expertise in working with underserved communities, responding to disasters, and managing product donations.”

World Vision’s global scale and strong infrastructure are also important to Henry Schein Cares, since these ensure that care and relief are delivered quickly and directly to people in need. “Particularly given the impacts of COVID-19 and the additional burden on vulnerable communities in times of disaster,” says Field, “we look forward to working more closely with World Vision to ensure everyone who needs help is able to receive it, and that equity is a key piece of our partnership.”