When osto­m­ates change appli­ance man­u­fac­tur­ers, style, or size, they may have unused sup­plies left over. Or, when a death occurs, the fam­ily may won­der about what to do with unused ostomy sup­plies. Fol­low­ing are some pos­si­ble places to donate excess ostomy supplies.

Local Ostomy Soci­eties, or Home­less Shelter(s) may wel­come sur­plus sup­plies for redis­tri­b­u­tion to home­less, or other “in-need” osto­m­ates. Also, var­i­ous Home Care ser­vices may wel­come these sup­plies for their clients. A phone call or two should result in find­ing a suit­able place for your donation.

In Cal­gary, Alberta, Canada, con­tact Edie Attrell at (403) 701‑5592, or you may be able to drop off boxes at the Cal­gary Health Region Home Care, 5920 McLeod Trail SE, Suite 400. You can also call the Cal­gary Com­mu­nity Care Access Line at 403–943-1920.

If your inquiries don’t result in a sat­is­fac­tory local place to donate, and you are located in West­ern Canada, you could con­tact Friends of Osto­m­ates World­wide Canada (FOWC). In 2012, their web site has a list­ing for dona­tions and where to send them — for West­ern Canada.

Out-of-our-region vis­i­tors may be able to find a local group through the Inter­na­tional Ostomy Asso­ci­a­tion at http://www.ostomyinternational.org/.