On August 31, 2015 our organization’s namesake, James Hollister, passed away after a year long battle with brain cancer. Shortly after his passing, James’ family found themselves with thousands of dollars worth of perfectly usable cancer medicines, but they didn’t know what to do with them. After being told that they couldn’t give the medicine to other patients at the hospice care facility due to liability and tampering concerns, the Hollister family eventually took the medicines to a medicine drop off center, where they later learned that the medicines were destroyed despite their usability.

James’ son, Matthew Hollister, and his friend, Stefano Brugnerotto, later found out that the Hollister family’s experience of having to waste viable medicines wasn’t particularly unique. To the contrary, it is an ever increasing problem within the developed world. Roughly $2 billion worth of prescription drugs is wasted annually in the US alone, and nearly $5 billion worth of drugs in unopened packs are dumped in the garbage every year. Much of this medication is disposed of improperly, either by being flushed down the toilet or incinerated, leading to unforeseen negative impacts on the environment. Despite this waste, drug shortages have been occurring frequently around the world, particularly in developing nations.

Appalled by this needless waste of life saving medicines, Stefano and Matthew incorporated a new non-profit organization in October, 2015 to offer individuals, families, pharmacies, hospitals, and nursing care facilities a way to ensure that their excess medicines will be put to good use. Named after Matthew’s late father, the James Hollister Wellness Foundation was founded with the mission to save medication from being needlessly wasted and, more importantly, to save lives from being needlessly lost.

Our business model allows us to receive donations of medicines from individuals, organizations, or companies and then use these medicines for charitable efforts in developing nations whose citizens don’t often have easy access to healthcare services. Any medicines that have already been prescribed and allocated in pill bottles, but are still viable, are sent to repository pharmacies that are capable of re-prescribing these medicines to a new patient. Medicines that are non-expired and in their original packaging can be used overseas by our partnered organizations that operate mobile medical clinics. These medicines are given directly to patients by licensed medical practitioners following the patient’s diagnosis.

Since our inception, the James Hollister Wellness Foundation has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of medicine from being wasted, allowing for tens of thousands of patients to be served. Over the years, we have had the pleasure of partnering with many organizations who share our concern for the developing world’s lack of healthcare accessibility. Because of their dedication, along with the generosity of our donors, our medicines have been able to serve those in need of them in Honduras, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Ukraine.

In loving memory of James Hollister, whose healing legacy lives on in those we serve.