PITTSFIELD, Mass. — More than four decades ago, Eddie O'Toole returned from the Peace Corps with the realization that good things were being thrown away when they could be used elsewhere. 

 

The question was how to get those resources to where they needed to go in the most cost-effective way.

 

The solution came from an unlikely item — bananas. 

 

O'Toole discovered that shipping containers carrying bananas and pineapples from Honduras to the United States return empty each week. 

 

He partnered with shipping companies to use returning containers for transporting donated equipment and supplies to Honduras, and the nonprofit Berkshire Amistad was born. 

 

Last Saturday, O'Toole and his partner in Honduras, Edmundo Mendez Sanchez, spoke at the Berkshire Athenaeum to ask for help and provide an update on their most recent shipment. 

 

"A lot of people up here just see this really as garbage, that it is really not needed and in Honduras, it's the need," Sanchez said in Spanish as O'Toole translated. 

 

The organization sends donations of ambulatory equipment such as walkers, rollators, wheelchairs, and especially crutches. It also takes items including hospital beds, exam tables, filing cabinets, glasses,  empty pill bottles, hospital equipment, school supplies, and more. 

 

O'Toole said he hopes to build connections with local transfer stations and landfill facilities because they are prime locations where people dispose of items that can be used to help people in the Central American country. 

 

Partnering with these sites will allow them to recover and collect items before it's thrown away, ensuring that more items get reused to help people in need — rather than ending up in the landfill, he said. 

 

The total cost of shipping the items is $8,000, which is funded through fiscal donations and reselling. 

 

Berkshire Amistad accepts monetary donations by mail to P.O. Box 83, Pittsfield MA 01201. As a registered nonprofit, donations are tax-deductible. More information here. 

 

"The effect that we can have just with a pair of crutches or anything like that, it's just amazing.  We do it all just to promote peace in the world. That's really what we're trying to do," O'Toole said. 

 

Much of the operation focuses on redistributing items — either by liquidating donations to help offset shipping costs or by sending goods to Honduras, where they can make a real difference.

 

For example, O'Toole will use his background as a mechanic to repair a vehicle, sell it, and use the funds to cover the operation.

 

The nonprofit was also able to construct a hub in Honduras to store and redistribute items using material from a building in Lenox that was being taken down, O'Toole said. 

 

Their efforts have improved access to medical care in Honduras, with the donation of an ambulance, beds, oxygen machines, and even dental and X-ray units. 

 

These donations have allowed for an increase in clinics. When O'Toole first met a doctor in Honduras, he had only one clinic; today, he has opened 103.

 

O'Toole recounted the death of a friend, a young child in Guaimaca, who was struck by a truck while riding a bicycle. Despite his father's efforts to get him to the hospital, which was an hour and a half away, he didn't survive because of the distance 

 

"I just said, 'This is crazy. They don't have an ambulance, so I gotta get an ambulance,'" O'Toole said, and he did just that. 

 

He found and purchased an ambulance, drove it down to Honduras with his family, and started an ambulance service.

 

For years, the nonprofit had to rely on its partners for import approval. However, its most recent shipment, a 40-foot container, is entirely under its own import license and certification.

 

Despite challenges, including the recent snow storm, the container was strategically stacked to the point where there was really no airspace, O'Toole said. 

 

This shipment and all future shipments use all corners to its advantage, including space in the donated cabinets.

 

The support from the community has had an astronomical impact, O'Toole said, highlighting several donations they have received over the years from a prosthetic leg to a 2010 Ford van that, once sold, will help cover the cost of shipping. 

 

Over the years, they have also received donations from local organizations, including the Berkshire Athenaeum, which recently donated 50 solid oak chairs and 15 round tables; the South Congregational Church, which donated 20 tables; Berkshire Medical Center, which donated its blood mobile vehicle; and Tanglewood, which donated a moving van. 

 

O'Toole shared the story of a woman who lost her leg and longed for the simple ability to stand and wash dishes —something she couldn't do without her limb. Thanks to a prosthetic, she regained her independence and could once again take part in everyday activities.