By LINN ANN HUNTINGTON

Special to The Hays Daily News

DENVER -- In 2001, Michael Young, originally from Larned, walked away from a good-paying job in industrial management. "I decided I wanted to do something more meaningful in my life," he told Kansas delegates to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday in Centennial, Colo.

That's where the headquarters of Project CURE are located. Young, who now lives in the Denver area, is the director of operations for the organization, which takes donated medical supplies and delivers them to needy countries.

Wednesday was National Convention Delegate Service Day, with each state delegation being assigned a specific service project in the Denver area. According to a news release from the Democratic National Convention, this was a first-time event in the history of the convention.

For two hours, 16 Kansas delegates joined delegates from North Carolina at Project CURE headquarters. There they sorted medical supplies to go to Uganda and Ghana and created medical kits to go to northern Iraq. Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius joined the delegates in the service project.

Young is the only paid staff member at the Colorado office and said he works with 5,000 volunteers a year. The organization has offices in three other cities -- Houston, Nashville and Denver -- and is looking to expand into other areas, he said.

Sebelius said, as she was helping sort supplies, she is hoping Kansas can be one of those areas.

Young graduated from Larned High School and went to Colorado State University, where he graduated with a bachelor's in business administration. But he said in 2001 he became disenchanted with the world of business, quit his job and started volunteering for non-profit organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity and local shelters.

"That's when I found Project CURE," he said. The acronym stands for Commission on Urgent Relief and Equipment. The organization was started in 1987 by Colorado businessman James Jackson, who went to Brazil on a business trip and came back aware of the overwhelming need for health services in that country.

His son, Dr. Douglas Jackson, now is president and CEO of the organization.

"It's not unusual in developing countries for the bottom of a tin can to be used as a scalpel," he told the delegates. "I could take you places today where they reuse needles and syringes."

The delegates saw a video that showed doctors in Third World countries rewashing surgical gloves and bandages. According to the video, one of the things that distinguishes Project CURE from other relief organizations is it never sends anything anywhere in the world until it has done a needs assessment.

Jackson said that assessment looks at the trustworthiness of the local contact people, the capabilities of the local medical organizations, and whether Project CURE can get the medical supplies through customs without them being confiscated.

Jenny Starky, communications manager, said the organization now is working in 123 countries. She said, on average, Project CURE sends two 40-foot cargo containers, each carrying $400,000 worth of medical supplies, to needy countries each week.

Young said he started out with Project CURE as the director of transportation. Then he took over as the warehouse manager, the site where the delegates worked Wednesday. About a year ago, when Project CURE moved into its new headquarters, Young became director over the entire Colorado operation.

Young said he visits Larned about twice a year to see his father. Young and his wife are in the process of trying to adopt a child from China.

He said the thing he enjoys most about his job is simply the feeling he is making a difference in the world.

"I'm doing something that is helping people ... and I am always amazed at the ease with which it can be done, taking from our own surplus (in the United States) and giving it to those in need."

Those who want more information about Project CURE can visit the organization's Web site at www.projectcure.org.