From Here to Honduras: Madisonians Stage Massive Medical Aid Effort

Excerpt: Many more hours had been spent during prior months boxing and wrapping the material, and designating where in the Central American country it should go so that volunteer teams arriving in February and March can provide free services for 4,000 to 5,000 patients.

That gave pause to some of the organizers of the aid effort, which since its inception 40 years ago has grown exponentially.

"We used to carry material in suitcases," reflected Dr. Jeff Patterson, a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health who is medical director of the nonprofit foundation that organizes the operation.

The massive effort has been running since 1969, when the Hackett Hemwall Foundation was founded by Chicago surgeon Dr. Gus Hemwall, who honored his mentor Dr. George Hackett in the name. The foundation moved to Madison 20 years ago, when Patterson became medical director.

Efforts have grown substantially during that time. For the last eight years, a shipping container pulled by a semi has been filled and sent on its way.