Proceeds of Auction of Historic Stamps Will Help Fund Relief Operations Worldwide
New York, June 11, 2007 – The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today expressed its gratitude for a gift of $9,136,000 from Bill and Sue Gross of Laguna Beach, California, generated from the sale at auction of a portion of Mr. Gross's rare and extensive stamp collection.
The entire proceeds of the sale, carried out at a public auction today at Shreves Philatelic Galleries in New York, were donated to MSF.
"This incredible display of generosity enables us to continue providing essential lifesaving assistance to those in urgent need in over 70 countries," said Dr. Darin Portnoy, president of the U.S. section of Doctors Without Borders. "We are especially appreciative of the unrestricted nature of this gift, which demonstrates the Gross's confidence in MSF to allocate funds where medical relief is needed most."
Currently, some of MSF's largest operations are underway in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka, the Central African Republic, Chad, and in the Darfur region of Sudan, where MSF provides emergency medical and surgical care to victims of violence and to displaced people. MSF also provides treatment to 80,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in 30 countries, in addition to treating people living with tuberculosis, malaria, and other neglected diseases such as kala azar and sleeping sickness.
"Sue and I chose to invest in MSF because stricken children and adults are needlessly dying around the world due to futile wars and devastating diseases," said Mr. Gross. "MSF's ability to deliver urgent humanitarian aid to the otherwise forgotten or ignored is unique and unparalleled, and we are pleased that this similarly unique and unparalleled auction can reinforce MSF's successes worldwide."
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, or exclusion from health care in more than 70 countries.
