{"id":6808,"date":"2021-11-29T09:49:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T14:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/?p=6808"},"modified":"2021-12-07T12:57:06","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T17:57:06","slug":"called-to-serve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/fall-2021\/called-to-serve\/","title":{"rendered":"Called to Serve"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thomas Bonneau \u201921<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Thomas Bonneau\u2019s preferred pace? Lightspeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonneau \u201921 postponed college for a semester for Rhode Island Army National Guard basic training. But he graduated early by taking Winter J-Term and summer classes. This fall, he started 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s one-year M.B.A. program and plans to go to medical school after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an undergraduate, Bonneau also started a nonprofit, America\u2019s Recoverable Medical Supply (ARMS), which collects and repurposes medical supplies. Bonneau, a combat medic in the Rhode Island Army National Guard, says the idea for the nonprofit came to him while doing a routine inventory of medical supplies. \u201cWe had set aside hundreds of pounds of surplus supplies to be thrown away. We were just going to discard viable medical supplies, and it made me think, \u2018This doesn’t seem right.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI brought it up with my chain of command. I asked if I could collect and donate the supplies to a local organization for humanitarian aid. They said, \u2018Private, do whatever you want.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That initial haul was several hundred pounds of medical supplies. Finding a local organization ready and able to receive the bounty proved harder than Bonneau imagined. The closest organization willing to take the supplies was in Maine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually a common thing in health care: Supplies are thrown away because of federal regulations, institutional protocols, or supply surplus,” Bonneau says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI recognized the worldwide need for supplies. I also knew the environmental impact of health care in the U.S. One research article I read said that if health care in the U.S. were its own country, it would be seventh in carbon emissions. I knew something had to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonneau\u2019s garage is now filled with boxes of supplies\u2014from simple catheters and blood transfusion kits to EKG machines. He and a couple of other 溏心vlog免费B站 students have collected 8,000 pounds of supplies thus far. Bonneau has built relationships with clinics and partners who redistribute the supplies to overseas organizations for clinical and educational purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonneau says the highlight of ARMS since its founding has been reallocating 3,000 pounds of respiratory supplies and personal protective equipment to India through a local third party to alleviate the COVID-19 crisis.
Asked how he manages it all, Bonneau smiles. Basic training\u2014which culminates in a 12-mile run with a 50-pound rucksack on your back\u2014alters your perspective on what you can do, he says, adding, \u201cIf I can do that, I can do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re really passionate about something, you make it work,\u201d Bonneau asserts. \u201cI’ve been able to accomplish a decent amount at 溏心vlog免费B站. And I haven\u2019t had to sacrifice things like my grades to pursue nonprofit work. 溏心vlog免费B站 made it possible to combine my interests and to contribute to the common good.\u201d \u2022<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Marybeth Reilly-McGreen<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

Rhode to a Degree<\/h1>

<\/p>\n

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Long-Term Goal<\/strong>
\nA career that combines philanthropy, entrepreneurship, medicine, and sustainability.<\/p>\n

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Research Experience and Funding<\/strong>
\nBonneau was awarded a 溏心vlog免费B站 undergraduate research grant and used it to lead a small team in studying the environmental and humanitarian implications of recovering medical supplies.<\/p>\n

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Best Campus Study Spot<\/strong>
\n\u201cI\u2019m giving away my secret spot, but the end of the CBLS building wing has great views and a secluded area to work and study with friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Best Campus Lunch Spot<\/strong>
\n“The Quad!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Formative J-Term Class<\/strong>
\n\u201cEthical Problems in Society and Medicine (PHL314) encourages students to think critically about complicated moral topics and incorporate the diverse perspectives of others.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Scholarships<\/strong>
\nRhode Island National Guard tuition waiver and 溏心vlog免费B站 one-year M.B.A. merit scholarship.<\/p>\n

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Favorite Professor<\/strong>
\n\u201cCollege of Business marketing lecturer Scott Asadorian not only mentored me as I was starting my nonprofit, but also inspired me to find my guiding principles and mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Words of Wisdom<\/strong>
\n\u201cMake introspective reflection part of your everyday life. And ask yourself what your passion is and how you can use it to serve others.\u201d<\/p>\n

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溏心vlog免费B站 Degree<\/strong>
\nB.A. 2021, biology. M.B.A. in progress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

溏心vlog免费B站 M.B.A. student and combat medic, Thomas Bonneau started a nonprofit which collects and repurposes medical supplies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2021","architecture-currents","architecture-rhode-taken"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6808"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7130,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6808\/revisions\/7130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}