JABOR Projects
CARIBBEAN.
Imagine a Caribbean sunset—waves gently caressing the shore, palm trees swaying in the breeze, and a rum drink in hand. It’s paradise. But beauty has a beast. Climate change has intensified storms, with winds exceeding 150 miles per hour, torrential rain, and massive wave surges, leaving devastation in their wake.
Several JABOR partners have been involved in relief efforts in this treasured and troubled area. Joey Gallagher, CEO of Gallagher Staging has demonstrated a strong commitment to serving in times of crisis. For example, Joey traveled to Puerto Rico right after Hurricane Maria where he gave out water and food with the American Red Cross. A YouTube features Joey’s work on this JABOR project: https://youtube/GallagherPR.
John Campion, co-founder of APR Energy and Showpower was also directly involved in Puerto Rico. He contributed power generators and co-founded PRxPR, a disaster relief fund created specifically to help rebuild Puerto Rico by providing food, clean water, and renewable energy to the most critically affected communities.
Jeff Pryor and Alexandra Mitchell, with Pathfinder Solutions, are long-time friends of JABOR and now serve as JABOR’s crew. For the past decade, they have spent six months each year in the Caribbean. Everywhere they’ve traveled, Jeff and Alex have witnessed deep poverty—rooted in colonialism and slavery—worsened by relentless storms. Through connections with local communities, they began organizing grassroots fundraisers to support rebuilding efforts and community projects. Thanks to JABOR’s matching funds, their impact has multiplied. These JABOR projects have included:
Puerto Rico – Rebuilt the roof of an elementary school; delivered supplies and electricity.
Guatemala – Provided bunk beds and helped purchase a van for a rural orphanage.
Dominica – Assisted a domestic abuse shelter in training orphaned girls with computers and school supplies.
Puerto Rico – Delivered emergency medical supplies, water purification systems, and solar lighting.
Grenada – Offered free consultation for a sustainable energy and water purification project.
Panama – Rebuilt the roof of a school cafeteria, and supplied a stove and necessary supplies in Río Azúcar, a Guna Yala indigenous community.
UNITED STATES.
Our focus in the United States has been largely on addressing hunger because we believe that access to food is a basic human right. Poverty and food insecurity are closely linked to unemployment and underemployment. Supporting a local food shelf not only provides immediate access to food but also helps individuals secure better employment and connect with local, state, and federal programs that promote long-term stability.
Our efforts began in Excelsior, Minnesota, in 2013 through a partnership with the Intercongregation Communities Association (ICA). The Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, where Charlie lives, was ranked 9th in the nation for suburban poverty by the Brookings Institute. Interestingly, across the country, many growing food-insecure populations are in suburban areas.
We were introduced to ICA Food Shelf through a personal connection and focused on its expansion in Excelsior, where a second location was being developed. It was surprising to discover that food insecurity was a significant issue even in this relatively affluent community, to the extent that expanding food shelf services became a legislative matter for the City Council.
To gain deeper insight, we met with the Mayor of Excelsior and the then-director of the ICA Food Shelf. This meeting reinforced the staggering need for food assistance not only in the U.S. but also globally. Seeing ICA’s expansion project firsthand allowed us to make an informed decision to support their initiative.
Since this time, JABOR has been involved in a variety of other US-based projects. We have helped with the construction of a therapeutic riding center, for example, and have responded to areas hit by natural disaster. One of our recent initiatives took place in North Carolina with a local organization called Thermal Hugs, where JABOR provided bikes and toys for children affected by Hurricane Helene. In 2025, JABOR also facilitated the transportation of 400+ hospital beds across the U.S. for Project C.U.R.E. through Dreamliner and Live Nation. Members of Team Rubicon also contributed to these efforts. The beds will be distributed disaster zones and impoverished nations worldwide.
HAITI.
Our involvement in Haiti started back in 2010. When the earthquake hit in January of that year, the devastation felt so close to home that we couldn't look away. Haiti is a neighbor, at only 600 miles from the United States coast.
Immediately after the earthquake, we orchestrated a series of spectacularly successful missions to bring medical professionals and healthcare supplies into the country. In addition to providing medical supplies, our nonprofit partners Project C.U.R.E. also introduced us to its associates at Partners in Health, who organized medical teams to be transported into and out of Haiti.
The shock and horror of what was happening also resonated clearly with many industry partners. Rock It Cargo donated a plane as well as the crew to fly it. APR Energy donated the money to fuel the aircraft, plus trucks and personnel on the ground in Port Au Prince to assure direct and safe delivery of supplies to University Hospital. Upstaging and ShoMotion (now Dreamliner) donated the trucking and labor to move medical supplies from various warehouses around the US to Miami. Diversified Production Services donated crew to load the plane in Miami. Individual roadies paid their own way to get to Miami to handle freight.
Together, we were able to fly four relief flights to Haiti, moving over 150 doctors, nurses, and emergency personnel in and out of Port Au Prince while delivering more than 50 thousand pounds of medical supplies (worth over $2 million) to people in need.
PAKISTAN.
In 2010, Pakistan faced a devastating state of emergency after a flood left approximately one fifth of the country under water and hunger became an even more urgent problem. We collaborated with local organizations in Wisconsin, facilitating the movement of three containers of meals to Karachi for distribution throughout the affected areas. Local volunteers completed meal packing events in Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago. In one night alone, they packed 60,000 meals (totaling 120,000 pounds of food) to give nourishment to thousands of hungry children.
JABOR got involved when a member of the Madison Relief Fund contacted Charlie. Worldwide Hunger Relief and the Madison Relief Fund had the resources to access food staples and gather volunteers to pack the meals, but needed an experienced organization who could successfully transport the meals from the Midwestern US to Pakistan.
Worldwide Hunger Relief is a group of local citizens who focus on alleviating child hunger. Madison Relief Fund began as part of the Meals For Haiti initiative in 2010. While the group no longer operates, it focused at the time on promoting the wellbeing of people and their communities through charitable donations, fundraising, and volunteer assistance.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) descended into civil war in 1998, and even after peace accords were signed in 2003, fighting continued until at least 2007. Of the 5.4 million who died, the majority were victims of diseases such as malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea, hunger, and malnutrition.
Project C.U.R.E. needed an efficient way to transport large volumes of medications and hospital supplies—such as autoclaves, consumables (gloves, syringes, etc.), and neonatal incubators—into the DRC. Having previously partnered with JABOR in Haiti, they knew they could call on us again. At the time, Lori was coordinating a music tour headed to Africa, so she helped secure additional shipping containers for the medical supplies, integrating them into the tour's existing cargo. Upon arrival at the DRC’s port, we handed the containers off to Project C.U.R.E., ensuring safe delivery to their designated hospitals.
Our approach has always been to leverage existing logistical pathways. The non-profit shipment for the DRC included four sea containers carrying $2 million worth of medical supplies. Since the tour was already transporting over 40 containers to Africa, adding these four significantly reduced per-container costs. It also streamlined the import process, as an established logistics company was already managing the shipment—something most aid organizations cannot typically afford. Lori and Project C.U.R.E. worked together to identify clinics in need, while local trucking companies stepped up to ensure last-mile delivery from the port to the clinics.
A huge thank you to Live Nation, Project C.U.R.E., Rock-It Cargo, Satellite Office Services, and Sound Moves for their incredible support in making this effort possible.
TUNISIA.
At the 2012 London Olympics, a highlight of the ceremonies was a dedication to Britain’s universal healthcare system, wherein professional nurses danced with actual hospital beds. After the Olympics, the London’s organizing committee then had 320 beds and mattresses that needed to find their way to medical facilities in developing countries. Tait Towers designers had created the beds intending for them to be donated after the Olympics and had JABOR in mind to help.
We in turn had Project C.U.R.E. in mind to ask where the greatest need would be. They suggested Tunisia. In a matter of days, Tait and our group stripped the beds of their lights, batteries and wiring from the production, organized shipping with Rock-It Cargo, and delivered them straight to Hospital Habis Burguiba de Medenine and Hospital de Taouine.
PHILLIPINES.
Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in November 2013, leaving widespread devastation in its wake. In response, we mobilized efforts to secure $210,000 worth of antibiotics and other essential medicines. Additionally, we facilitated the shipment of ten 45-foot sea containers filled with powdered baby formula and clean water, along with two containers carrying critical medical hardware.
Beyond medical aid, we distributed 300 soccer balls from One World Play Project to ChildFund International and provided 1,000 solar-powered lights to shelter camps established in the immediate aftermath.
Rock-It Cargo played a key role in delivering five pallets of antibiotics via air freight to Bethany Hospital in Tacloban City. Thanks to this support, Bethany Hospital conducted a two-day medical mission in Southern Leyte, reaching ten barangays (villages or wards) with the aid of equipment and supplies from Project C.U.R.E.
A heartfelt thank you to APR Energy, Air Link, Project C.U.R.E., and Rock-It Cargo for their invaluable contributions. We also extend our gratitude to the many Minnesota-based medical and pharmaceutical professionals, as well as the hospital workers' union in New York, for their crucial role in accessing and coordinating medicine distribution. Without their dedication, this mission would not have been possible.
