Medical gear bound for Haiti

1:10 A.M. — Mike and Wendy Arsenault and Bonita Springs Morning Rotary Club members shipped $1 million in medical supplies to Haiti on Friday.

The Arsenaults, owners of Southwest Florida Veterinary Specialists, order their medical supplies through a U.S. government website and each time the couple receives a pallet of goods, hundreds of pounds of supplies are left over.

"We were shipping a lot of it to Afghanistan, but they won't take it anymore," said Mike Arsenault, while navigating a forklift through a maze of boxes loaded with everything from shower shoes, finger splints, crutches and arm slings to bed pans.

This is the first time the Arsenaults are providing humanitarian aid to earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

"There's all this stuff that we can't use, so we're donating it," added Wendy Arsenault.

Bonita Rotary and Rotary International knew Haiti could use the supplies.

The Arsenaults contacted Rotarian Jay Berube about the 8,000 pounds of supplies and Berube called Don Thomas, who serves as Rotary's governor of District 6960.

Thomas then contacted John Smart, director of Rotary International and owner of Ray The Mover, about the supplies, Thomas said.

On Friday, the supplies were loaded on two moving trucks and driven to Miami. From there, they'll be flown to Haiti and delivered to a doctor, also a Rotarian, who will distribute the goods to three hospitals.

"One of the things that a lot of people were expecting after the earthquake was a lot of disease," said Thomas. "That hasn't happened because of Rotary's work in providing inoculations and clean water."