Seed Global Health held a fundraising cocktail Wednesday night at Kargo's offices to raise awareness of its unique mission to help improve healthcare in Third World countries through teaching and training. The evening, chaired by Jill and Harry Kargman, Drew Barrymore and Will Kopelman, Sasha and Chris Heinz, and Alexandra Kerry and Julien Dobbs-Higginson, raised $100,000.
Seed Global Heath's founder, Vanessa Kerry, is its best ambassador. A physician herself, Kerry is articulate and passionate about the cause.
"I started Seed Global Health because I grew up having the opportunity to see the intense poverty in certain parts of the world, and the two standards of care that exist," said Kerry, whose father, John Kerry, is currently Secretary of State. "I realized that something needed to change; there had to be a way to provide better health care in a sustainable way in countries that are resource constrained."
Kerry started Seed Global Health with the idea that if the organization sent doctors and nurses to teach, not just to provide care, they could have a lasting effect by training their successors. Future doctors and nurses would stay in their countries, continue to work, and continue to provide outstanding patient care. Seed Global Health has partnered with the Peace Corps to take advantage of their economy of scale in sending Americans abroad in an integrative and sensitive way for a fraction of the cost of other programs. Seed Global Health brings the expertise, medicine, nursing and teaching, and also provides loan repayments so that the best and brightest Americans are able to serve in their program regardless of financial barriers.
"We've sent close to 100 volunteers in the last two years. They've trained 7,200 doctors, nurses and midwives, and each of those doctors and midwives will go on to train 10, or 100, or an infinite number," Kerry continued. "Eventually, there will be a vast network of health professionals in these countries that will not only be able to provide outstanding care, but to continue teaching. This is a solution to improving the health of the world."
Seed Global Health was founded three years ago, and is currently active in Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi, with plans to expand into two more countries in the coming year.
Harry Kargman, founder and CEO of Kargo, was happy to provide the space for the evening.
"Seed Global Health has the same values as Kargo," said Kargman. "It's like the adage from the New Testament, where if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a night, but if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. Kargo is similarly trying to change advertising, and brand advertising, as it relates to mobile inside our clients' apps."
Drew Barrymore was co-hosting in support of her friend and the cause.
"I love Vanessa's passion and her knowledge," said Barrymore, who is currently promoting her book of autobiographical essays, Wildflower. "I work with the World Food Program and you just know that the dollar you give is going to the right place; with Vanessa it's the same effectiveness, and that's really important to me in a charity."
