$50 million gift announced by Christine Squires aims to significantly expand lifesaving care, provide enough medicine to fill over 9 million prescriptions, and provide 3 million medical supplies for patients in need
Americares announced a $50 million gift—the largest in the organization’s history—to expand access to lifesaving medicines and quality health care for people affected by poverty, disaster, and humanitarian crises worldwide.
Made over five years by a Connecticut family that has supported Americares for three decades, the transformational commitment comes as reductions in international aid and mounting global instability place unprecedented strain on health systems.
The gift will advance Americares’ goal of helping 100 million people access quality health care by 2030, while strengthening the organization’s ability to deliver medicines, medical supplies, and health services through its network of more than 4,000 health centers worldwide.
It will also grow the Americares endowment, helping protect the organization’s long-term capacity to respond when communities face disasters, conflict, and chronic gaps in care.
“For nearly 50 years, Americares has worked alongside local partners to help people and communities in crisis,” said Americares President and CEO Christine Squires.
“This remarkable investment will allow Americares to expand access to lifesaving medicines, strengthen our partnerships with local health providers, and support more resilient health systems for the future. We are deeply grateful for this extraordinary vote of confidence in our work, and we hope it inspires others to join us in ensuring more people have access to the care they need.”
Americares has long benefited from a diverse community of individual, foundation, and corporate supporters. Its donor base includes longtime institutional partners and philanthropies such as Sobrato Philanthropies, which committed $5 million in 2024 to strengthen the organization’s emergency-response capacity.
The new $50 million commitment, however, stands apart as Americares’ largest gift to date. The donor family has chosen to remain anonymous, and Americares has not publicly identified them.
The announcement arrives amid a widening global health emergency. Conflict, climate-driven disasters, supply-chain disruption and deep cuts to international health funding are forcing health providers to make increasingly difficult choices about the services they can sustain.
The World Health Organization has reported that funding reductions have affected thousands of health facilities and diminished access to essential services for tens of millions of people.
Americares is responding by accelerating investments in its five-year strategic plan, with particular emphasis on its Access to Medicine program.
Building on its role as a major nonprofit provider of donated medicines and medical supplies, the organization is working to create more dependable, equitable pathways for patients and health centers to obtain essential treatments.
The $50 million investment will support expanded work in high-need countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia and Latin America, where fragile health systems and recurring shortages often leave patients without the medicines they need. Americares also plans to increase support for U.S. safety-net health centers serving uninsured and underinsured patients, particularly in states where policy changes could leave more residents without coverage.
“We are facing a perfect storm for global medicine access,” said Kellen Thomas, Americares senior vice president of medicine security.
“Conflict, climate-related disasters, supply chain disruptions, and reductions in global health funding are all increasing pressure on already fragile health systems. Americares’ Access to Medicine strategy is designed to meet this moment—strengthening global and local supply chains, diversifying sources of medicine, supporting local health providers, and creating more reliable pathways for patients to get the treatments they need. This investment will help us scale lifesaving solutions when and where they are needed most.”
In the past year, Americares delivered $1.8 billion in aid, including enough medicine to fill 9 million prescriptions and 3 million medical supplies for patients in need.
Since its founding in 1979, the organization has provided more than $24 billion in aid to 164 countries, including the United States, and responds annually to about 30 natural disasters and humanitarian crises.
The new commitment gives Americares added flexibility to meet immediate needs while investing in the local systems and partnerships required to make health care more durable, accessible, and resilient over time.